Sandcastles
by Kittyclaw
Summary: Invited to join Odd in house sitting for his parents, the gang is blindsided by summer as love blooms, friendships are reaffirmed, and their collective lack of cooking skills is finally put to the test. This is one vacation they won't soon forget.
1. Biyearly honeymoon?

**Wait, what? A fic? From **_**Kittyclaw? **_**Yeah, I know, gasp. What can I say, RenaYumi started talking about her summer fic and I got all competitive like. Blame her (or thank, whichever). Hopefully all the impending fluff and cuteness is worth the wait. As always, feedback is darling and stuffed into teddy bears for snuggles. Enjoy~**

**Dedicated to: Rena, because I'm copying her, competing with her, blaming her, and purposely surprising her with an alert email in the morning, all in one post.**

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><p>A loud yell, echoing its way to through his open door from the hall outside, was all the warning Ulrich was given, allowing him just enough time to flash Yumi a terrified grimace before he was tackled to the floor by a purple and yellow blur screeching "It's Summer!" at the top of its lungs.<p>

"Odd, get off!" Ulrich hollered, trying in vain to weasel out from beneath his still cheering roommate.

"No," the blonde responded childishly, refusing to budge as he looked around the room. He grinned when he realized that Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremy were all already present, sitting scattered about the room and watching him expectantly.

"Okay Odd," Jeremy said, rolling his eyes as his friends continued to wrestle on the floor. "Why did you want us to meet you here?"

"Because—" Odd started to say, before he was cut off by Ulrich grabbing his collar and then using his legs to catapult Odd up and over his head, the blonde landing in a heap on the floor. Ulrich immediately dove away from Odd before he could get it together enough to retaliate, scrambling onto his bed and ducking behind Yumi for safety.

"Oh no you don't," Yumi said, quickly scooting away from the brunet. "I'm not playing human shield." Seeing an opening, Odd flung himself at his now exposed friend, who wailed dramatically as he was caught in a headlock.

"Aren't you two a little old for this kind of thing?" Jeremy asked, drawing Odd's attention, whose arm was wrapped firmly around Ulrich's neck.

"Are we?" he asked cheekily. Jeremy rolled his eyes, Odd grinning up at him—and not noticing Ulrich making his counter attack until it was too late. He released Ulrich with a yelp, the taller boy scrambling away again and diving behind Jeremy as Odd stared at his own arm, eyes wide.

"You bit me!" he accused Ulrich, pointing imperially at his roommate, who stuck out his tongue.

"You tried to choke me," he accused back. Odd scowled.

"Didn't."

"Did."

"Boys," Yumi interrupted, "Can we know why we're here now, or should we just get going and let the two of you work this one out alone?" Both boys blinked at her.

"Oh, right," Odd said, suddenly remembering what he was supposed to be doing. Leaping up from Ulrich's bed, the brunet quickly jumping in to reclaim his seat, Odd planted himself in the middle of the room. "I have a question," he announced. "What are you all planning on doing this summer?"

Everyone in the room stared at Odd for a moment.

"You couldn't ask us this during lunch?" Jeremy asked, quirking an eyebrow at his friend.

"I didn't need to know during lunch," Odd told him.

"Why do you need to know now?" Aelita asked curiously, from where she was sitting cross legged on Odd's bed.

"Because I do," Odd answered. "So…?"

"You know what I'm doing," Ulrich said with a huff. "Since I can't find anything else to do, I'll be heading home for the summer. A whole two months with my parents." Ulrich scowled darkly. "I can't wait."

"What about the rest of you?" Odd said, seeming to fight back a grin as he turned his gaze on the rest of the group.

"I think I'm going to Japan with my parents," Yumi said. "They wanted to go by themselves, but they can only find a friend to stick Hiroki with, since none of you are staying in France. And they won't leave me in the house alone. They're convinced I'll throw a party." Yumi sighed, shaking her head. "It's like they think I'll fly you all back here or something."

"You might," Ulrich said, giving her a poke in the shoulder.

"I would fly Odd in. It wouldn't be a party without Odd."

Everyone turned to stare at Odd, who had dropped down into the seat beside Aelita, the pink haired girl giggling at his antics.

"If you don't stop talking in third person, I'm leaving," Jeremy deadpanned. Odd stuck out his tongue.

"What are you doing this summer, Einstein?" he asked. Jeremy gave him a pointed look.

"You know what I'm doing," he said. "That summer college session the school is offering." Odd rolled his eyes, heaving a sigh.

"You would ruin your summer by going to school."

"It's not ruined," Jeremy retorted, but his response went ignored, Odd's attention having already shifted.

"What about you princess?" he asked Aelita. "What are you going to do?"

"I…umm, I don't know, actually," she admitted with a shrug. "I haven't really thought about it."

"Good," Odd said, causing Aelita to look at him in surprise. He nodded.

"Jer, if you would reconsider that school thing, then this would be the best summer ever."

"Why?" Jeremy asked. "Because we would all be bored and miserable together?"

"No," Odd said, a mischievous smile on his face. "Because we would all get to spend the summer together at my parent's vacation home in New Zealand."

There was a beat of silence as everyone stared open mouthed at Odd.

"Are you serious?" Ulrich asked. The blonde grinned.

"Of course," he said, throwing an arm around Aelita's shoulders. "My parents are leaving for their biyearly honeymoon, and none of my sisters can stay at the house this year, so they asked me to watch it for them. They said I could bring friends, so they don't have to worry about me being all alone on the island."

"Island?"

"Bring friends?"

"Biyearly honeymoon?"

"Yeah," Odd said, looking at Ulrich. "My parents go on honeymoons twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter. So the summer house is vacant for basically our entire summer break, and they don't like leaving it unwatched. It's the only one on an island my dad bought from some guy he used to work for, so there are no neighbors to make sure no one breaks into it or anything."

"You parents solution to having the house burglarized it to fill it with teenagers?" Jeremy asked. Odd nodded.

"It works," he said. "Especially because we all know that if we break anything, we'll never be allowed to set foot on the island again."

"And you want to take _us_ to stay on this island, with no parental supervision?" Yumi asked. Odd nodded again.

"Only if you want to; and if your parents are okay with it." Odd's friends looked at one another; trying to process the offer they had just been handed. Odd was giving them the chance to completely avoid their impending unpleasant summers by getting to hang out in a house on a private island with no adults around for _six weeks_.

"You're parents are really letting you do this?" Aelita asked. Odd nodded.

"Technically they're making me do this," he amended. "If none of you guys come, I still have to watch the house."

"I'd like to go," Aelita said. Odd's face immediately split with a grin as he hugged the girl.

"One down!" he shouted, turning to look at the others. "What about you guys?"

"You know I can't," Jeremy said, "But I'll be sure to keep in touch with you. You'll need _some_ supervision after all."

"I'm in," Ulrich declared. "Anything's better than spending the summer being smothered by my mom and griped at by dad."

"Well Yumi?" Odd asked, everyone's attention shifting to the last member of the group.

"I'll have to talk it over with my parents," she said, "But I think they'll agree to it. Anything to get the summer to themselves for once." Odd was grinning so widely at this point that his cheeks were hurting.

"Great!" he shouted. "You guys had better start packing."

"How long do we have until we leave?" Yumi asked. Odd blinked.

"We go tomorrow at two to catch our train."

"Tomorrow?" Yumi repeated, Ulrich and Aelita also looking shocked. Odd nodded.

"Did I forget to mention that?"

"Uh, yeah," Ulrich said. "Aelita and I have to pack up everything we have here at Kadic. And what are we supposed to do, take it all with us to New Zealand?"

"Of course not," Odd responded. "My parents said they would pay for the stuff you guys need to ship home and such."

"What about my things?" Aelita asked. "I don't have anywhere to ship them to."

"I'm sure my parents would let you leave it our house," Yumi said. "It's only your computer and some school things, and your winter clothes, right?" Aelita nodded. "Good. And you can spend the night tonight, since all of your things will be at my house anyway."

"See princess," Odd said, "We're watching out for you." Aelita smiled.

"Thank you," she said, to both Yumi and Odd.

"It's nothing," Odd told her dismissively.

"Well, if we need to be ready for tomorrow," Ulrich said, "I think we should all start talking to parents and getting our things packed, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah," Odd said. "Are you sure I can't convince you to join us, Jer?" he asked his fellow blonde. Jeremy shook his head.

"I'd love to, but I've already paid for the classes." Odd sighed dramatically.

"Fine," he huffed. He then bounced back to his feet, clapping his hands together. "Alright troops. I expect to see you all back here, bags packed, at one thirty tomorrow. Understood?"

"Sure," Yumi said, rolling her eyes as Ulrich tossed his pillow at Odd. "Come on Aelita," she continued, "I'll help you pack, and then we can take your things down to my house."

"Okay," Aelita responded, smiling widely as she hopped to her feet and followed the older girl out of the room.

"I guess I'd better go start packing too," Jeremy said. "I leave tomorrow too, you know."

"And you're positive you want to leave for school, and not the most amazing summer you'll ever have in your life?" Odd checked. Jeremy nodded.

"I'm sure Odd. I'll come say goodbye before I leave in the morning, okay?" Odd heaved another sigh, but relented.

"Alright Einstein. But I expect you to be making use of that webcam I bought you for Christmas."

"I will," Jeremy assured his friend, and then he too left, leaving Ulrich and Odd alone in their room. As soon as the door swung shut Ulrich flopped down on his bed with a huff.

"I can't believe your parents are letting us use their house," he said, turning his head to look at Odd. The blonde shrugged.

"Usually Adele and Louise are the ones who watch it. But Adele is studying abroad this year, and Louise is backpacking with her boyfriend somewhere in South America." Odd also dropped down onto his bed. "The twins are both off at some kind of sports retreat camp, so it was going to be Elizabeth who watched the house, but she was invited last minute to a singing thing that'll take up most of her summer."

"So the house sitting job was given to younger brother by default?" Ulrich asked.

"Pretty much."

"Ah."

The pair lapsed into silence after that, both lying sprawled across their beds and looking up at their dorm's slightly stained white ceiling. Ulrich huffed. Odd sighed. Glancing in his roommate's direction, Ulrich sighed louder. Odd groaned. With a snort of laughter, Ulrich whined loudly. Odd's response was a noisy wail.

"Okay, we really need to start packing," Ulrich said, interrupting their noise making match.

"Yeah, yeah," Odd huffed, sitting up and staring at the room's large wardrobe. He and Ulrich shared a look, and then both boys jumped up and hurried over to the large piece of furniture, scrambling to reach it first. After a quick scuffle the wardrobe doors were pulled open, revealing the jumble of clothing hung up inside of it, and the pile of purple and brown luggage below. Both boys hmm'd as they looked at the mess, which held absolutely no level of organization. Ulrich sighed.

"This might take a while."

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><p>Down one floor, Yumi and Aelita were finding themselves to be much more productive than their male counterparts. After retrieving a dozen of the self assemble cardboard boxes that the school left piled on each floor for the students to use, the pair had proceeded to start boxing up everything of Aelita's that would be able to stay stashed away in Yumi's room over the summer. Though, at the moment, they had currently reached a snarl in their production line of packing.<p>

"Which one?"

"That one."

"This one here?"

"No! Not tha—"

The computer made an odd whirring noise, and the screen went blank.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Yumi asked sheepishly. Aelita shook her head.

"It's okay though," she quickly assured her friend. "At this point we can just unplug everything and pack it away."

"Okay," Yumi said. She crawled out from behind Aelita's desk, a bundle of wires in hand, which she dropped into the open box on Aelita's bed. The girls then packed the keyboard, mouse, and speakers in with the cords, tucking away all of Aelita's various computer accessories. It took the two of them together to lift the monitor and set it into the box, and then Aelita wedged the tower behind that, followed by Yumi stuffing the lid on.

"Okay," she huffed, sealing the box with a roll of clear backing tape. "Let's get your bedding next. But I would leave the blanket out," she added, pointing to the pink and white throw blanket draped across Aelita's quilt.

"Why?" Aelita asked curiously as she began stripping the bed.

"We have a long flight tomorrow," Yumi explained, taking the blanket and one of Aelita's pillows and setting them aside. "You'll probably want to sleep for most of the trip. And the pillows and blankets the airlines provide are useless in those cold planes."

"Oh," Aelita said, folding her sheets and tucking them into a new box. "How long will we be flying for?" she asked curiously. Yumi paused in her pillowcase folding to consider the question.

"Probably close to twenty four hours," she answered. "The trip could take even longer if we have any long layovers."

"Layovers?" Aelita asked. Yumi nodded.

"It's when you stop at an airport to switch planes. The time you spend waiting for the next flight is a layover."

"Oh," Aelita said. The girls stuffed the last of Aelita's bedspread away, sealing the boxes and adding them to the pile.

"Okay," Yumi said, putting her hands on her hips as she looked around the room. "Now we just need to pack everything else for the trip." She and Aelita hauled out Aelita's luggage, which had been purchased for her by the group back when they'd first moved her into Kadic as a way to complete the boarder look. Depositing the pale pink suitcases on Aelita's bare mattress, Yumi pointed to the largest case.

"You'll want to use that one mostly for clothes," she said. She then turned to Aelita's large duffle bag. "That looks like it's small enough to be allowed on the plane, so you should use that one for any clothing you'd like to have on you either on the plane or when we get to Odd's place. Also your pillow and blanket, and your make up and things. You can put things like your music player and some books into your backpack."

"Okay," Aelita said, looking like a student listening to a lecture. "Big case for clothes." Yumi nodded. The girls then proceeded to empty out Aelita's wardrobe and dresser into a heap of clothing beside the large suitcase. Picking up a shirt at random, Aelita folded it and set it down in her suitcase.

"Not like that," Yumi chastised lightly, snatching the shirt back out. "There's an art to packing suitcases," she explained as she refolded the shirt. "You're trying to fit the greatest amount of stuff in the smallest possible space." Handing the shirt back, Aelita saw that Yumi had folded it into a neat little square.

"Wow," Aelita whispered, setting the shirt inside the case. Yumi grinned.

"I brought everything I owned from Japan to France. I learned all the tricks." Laughing, Aelita and Yumi continued folding clothes and stuffing them into the case, trying to see who could cram the most into their side. By the time it was full, Aelita had managed to fit almost every piece of clothing and underwear, and every last shoe she owned into the now bulging case. However, there were a few things Yumi had set aside rather than pack away.

"What are those for?" Aelita asked, eyeing the outfit sitting folded on her mattress, next to a pair of sleep pants and a tank top. She then motioned to the outfit she had already set out for tomorrow.

"Those are for your carry on," Yumi explained. "So if you want to change into fresh clothes at some point, and you have your PJs available when we get to Odd's house without having to rummage through your suitcase."

"Oh," Aelita said. It seemed that Yumi really did know all of the tricks to traveling. Yumi grinned at her. "Let's get your other bags packed, and then we can call my dad to come help us haul these boxes to my house." Aelita returned Yumi's grin with one of her own.

"Sounds like a plan."

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><p>"And Yumi thinks you have to fold your clothes all nice to be able to pack right," Odd huffed, pulling his zipper shut with a final jerk. Across from him, Ulrich was sitting atop his own larger suitcase, bouncing a little so that he could get the zipper to go the final six inches.<p>

"You know, you should at least fold them," Ulrich told his roommate. He then shouted with joy as he got the suitcase closed.

"Why?" Odd asked. Ulrich rolled his eyes.

"So your clothes aren't all wrinkled when you get them back out."

"Psh," was Odd's response as he moved on to his other suitcase, pouncing on it and restarting his epic zipper battle. Odd had crammed everything he planned to take with him in his two suitcases, as his only other bag was his backpack, which he had loaded with dog treats, card games, a camera, a book, and even a coloring book and crayons. When asked, Odd simply explained that they had a very long flight a head of them. He was also brining Kiwi with him, in a new pet travel bag that Aelita and Jeremy had gotten him for Christmas, so he wouldn't have to try and sneak the poor dog in his backpack any more.

Ulrich, on the other hand, had a single massive suitcase into which he had been able to cram almost everything for the trip. And what he hadn't been able to fit in the suitcase, he was currently cramming into a duffle bag, along with a few things to keep him busy on the flight. He rummaged about the few things that had yet to be packed away in suitcases or cardboard boxes until he retrieved his toiletries bag, from which he pulled his toothbrush and toothpaste before stuffing the bag into his duffle. Odd watched him for a moment, and then sighed, staring at his suitcase.

"Ulrich," he asked slowly.

"Yes?" the brunet asked back.

"Can I borrow your toothbrush?"

Ulrich blinked.

"No."

"Please?" Odd begged. "I don't want to get mine out."

"You packed it in your suitcase?" Ulrich asked. Odd nodded. Ulrich laughed. "That sucks."

"Come on Ulrich," Odd whined "I'm your best friend!"

"No," Ulrich repeated, hugging his toothbrush protectively. Odd tried one more pout, but received only a glower in return. So, sighing once more, he turned to his suitcase, crouching down to open it.

"I would step back if I was you," he warned Ulrich as he reached for the zipper.

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><p>Yumi and Aelita approached Odd and Ulrich's dorm, chatting about what they thought Odd's vacation home would be like. Yumi was laughing at one of Aelita's comments concerning Odd's room and its similarities to a nuclear waste dump as she reached up to knock on the door, however she fell abruptly silent when a muffled <em>fump<em> echoed inside the room. The girls exchanged bewildered looks at the sound. They only became more baffled when, after a long moment of silence, the room echoed with laughter.

"Odd? Ulrich?" Yumi called worriedly, reaching for the door knob. Opening the door, she was met with the sight of Odd sprawled across the floor, covered in a layer of clothing. Ulrich was doubled over nearby with laughter.

"Are you okay?" Yumi asked tentatively, eyeing the pair. Odd played dead a moment longer, and then turned his head to look back at Yumi.

"I'm looking for my toothbrush," he told her simply.

"He…he," Ulrich gasped out, before dissolving back into laughter. Yumi blinked, looking back at Aelita, who shrugged.

"Okay," Yumi said slowly. "Well, my dad is here to help us move Aelita's stuff, so I'm just letting you guys know we're leaving."

"Alright," Odd said, while Ulrich toppled over, still snickering. "I'll call you in the morning to make sure you're up!" Ulrich's laughter doubled.

"I'm sure you will," Yumi told him dryly. "But I think I'll set my alarm. No use relying on a one pm wakeup call for a two pm departure." Odd pulled a face at her as she and Aelita backed out of the boy's doorway, shutting the door behind them.

"That was interesting," Aelita said. Yumi laughed, as in her pocket her cell began to vibrate.

"I wonder who that could be," Yumi said, not sounding at all curious as she pulled out her phone and put it to her ear. "Hello dad…yeah, we're ready for you…second floor, room 213…see you there."

"He's coming up?" Aelita asked, looking sideways at Yumi. The older girl nodded.

"He said he brought a dolly with him to help us carry the boxes."

"A…dolly?" Aelita asked in confusion.

"It's something you use to move heavy stuff," Yumi explained. "You'll see my dad's in a few seconds." As Yumi spoke, she and Aelita approached the end of the hall, where one of the dorm's usually most restricted forms of transportation sat waiting for them.

Although the dorm was built with a perfectly functional elevator opposite the end of the stairwell, the machine was locked down and completely off limits both to students and staff during the school year. With students like Odd living in the dorms, it was no wonder why. But at the beginning and end of each school year the elevator was made available as Kadic's entire boarding population packed up every possession they had with them and carted them away, based on the realization that hundreds of students clambering around the stairs with armfuls of very large, heavy boxes was something akin to an attempted mass suicide.

Just as Yumi and Aelita reached the elevator its doors slid open, revealing Mr. Ishiyama, armed with an 'L' shaped black dolly and an armful of bungee cords.

"Hello girls," he greeted them as he stepped out into the hall. As soon as he had, a student lugging what appeared to be everything he ever owned quickly took the man's place in the elevator. Mr. Ishiyama raised an eyebrow as the elevator descended once more before looking over the girls' heads at the hallway ahead of him, which was currently a buzz with students darting back and forth carrying a wide assortment of bags, suitcases, cardboard and plastic boxes, and bundles that looked like their bed sheets tied around heaps of clothing.

"Hello Mr. Ishiyama," Aelita greeted politely. "Thank you for allowing me to keep my things in your home."

"It's no problem," he told her, quickly waving it off. "Anything for Yumi's friends." Aelita smiled as Yumi rolled her eyes.

"My parents just like you because you're so nice," Yumi told her friend playfully. "They wouldn't let Odd keep so much as a shoelace at our house." Mr. Ishiyama harrumphed, but didn't deny the accusation, causing Aelita to giggle.

"Alright," he said, "Where's this dorm room?" Yumi and Aelita led the way down the wall, weaving through half packed, scrambling students to reach Aelita's dorm. Inside the girls had stacked all of Aelita's boxes neatly by the door, next to her luggage.

"Is this all?" Mr. Ishiyama asked, eyeing the five boxes, which contained mostly bedding and clothes. Aelita hadn't had the volume of personal items that most of the other students were suddenly struggling to find room for.

"Yep," Yumi said. "What do you want us to do?"

"Show me the heaviest box," Mr. Ishiyama told her. "We'll stack them heaviest to lightest." Nodding, the girls set to sorting the boxes, handing them off one at a time to Yumi's father, who would stack them one by one unto the dolly, bungee cording each into place as he went. Once they were all in place he nabbed Aelita's duffle and set it on top, leaving the suitcase and Aelita's backpack for the girls to carry.

"Make one last check of the room," Mr. Ishiyama told her as he wheeled the dolly back into the hall. "You don't want to forget anything." The girls did a quick scramble about the room, turning up a hair tie from under the wardrobe and a lost pen from behind the desk, but with nothing else left behind, the paired joined Yumi's father, Aelita locking her door behind her for the last time.

"Do you need to return that key anywhere?" Mr. Ishiyama asked as they headed back for the elevator.

"They have a return desk set up in the office," Aelita said, pocketing her key. "I was going to go with the boys when they turn in their keys tomorrow."

"Oh good," Mr. Ishiyama said as he pushed the elevator call button. The doors opened, revealing a car packed full with boys and boxes.

"Going down?" one of them asked, as a few of the others scooted aside to try and make some room. Yumi and Aelita made to cram in, but Mr. Ishiyama stopped them.

"Thanks," he said, "but we'll wait for the next one." The boys all blinked at him.

"Are you sure?" one of them asked. Mr. Ishiyama nodded.

"I'm sure." Aelita and Yumi stifled giggles as the elevator doors slid back shut, Mr. Ishiyama grumbling something about ridiculous teenage boys.


	2. Don't we have a train station to get to?

**No, you're not all living in a paradox world. I'm just being productive! A few notes before we continue on: It has recently come to my attention that summer time in New Zealand isn't exactly sunny. For that reason, this fic will now be taking place in AU!Summer New Zealand. Why? Because I'm an author, that's why. I had something else to say, but I forget what, so onward with the fic!**

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><p><em>Beep. Beep. Beep.<em>

With a groan, a pale hand snaked out from below a cocoon of blankets, flailing against the low bedside table a few times before finding the alarm clock and shutting it off. "Five more minutes," the bundle of blankets moaned.

"Is it already morning?" a second pile of bedding grumbled, heaped on the ground beside the floor level bed.

"No," the first pile answered. "The alarm's not going off." A soft giggle emerged from the second pile, which was followed a moment later by a head of pink hair popping up.

"Come on Yumi," Aelita said, batting away her blankets. "We need to get up." A half hearted whining sound was all she got in response.

After arriving at Yumi's house, the girls had quickly stashed away Aelita things in a corner of Yumi's room, and then set about packing away everything Yumi would need for the trip. Half way through, the packing had dissolved into an impromptu fashion show, as Yumi tried to figure out what she should take with her. Eventually they finished loading up Yumi's suitcases, after which they stayed awake late into the night, talking about all of the things they could do on their vacation, not at all considering the early morning ahead of them.

"Time to get up," Aelita sing-songed, stumbling over to Yumi's bed and dropping down on top of the older girl.

"Go 'way," Yumi huffed, playfully shoving at Aelita. The pink haired girl responded by attempting to steal Yumi's blankets and burrow into them. A short wrestle ensued, which eventually ended with both girls on the ground, each hugging a pillow to their chest and laughing breathlessly.

"Ugh, give me that," Yumi said, snatching her pillow from her giggling friend and then tossing it back onto her bed. Sighing, Aelita sprawled out across the floor, swatting at Yumi's heels as she walked by. "Don't make me step on you," Yumi threatened with a grin. Aelita stuck her tongue out as she propped herself up on her elbows.

"Can you believe it?" she asked as she watched Yumi rummaging about for her bathroom things, which she'd left out the night before. "We're going to New Zealand today."

"I know," Yumi responded, tucking her clothes under her arm. "It doesn't feel real. Like, we're going to get to the school and find out we dreamed the whole thing."

"I really hope not," Aelita said, falling back against her blankets. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself for the summer if I wasn't spending it with you guys."

"Aelita," Yumi said, walking over and dropping down onto the floor next to her friend. "You know that even if we weren't going to New Zealand, you would probably be spending the summer with all of us, right?"

"Really?" Aelita asked, scooting so that she was sitting upright. Yumi nodded.

"We wouldn't all go home and abandon you here to figure out what to do with yourself for the whole summer."

"But you all go home to your families over the summer," Aelita said. "In other countries."

"We do," Yumi agreed. Aelita's brow furrowed.

"So how would I spend the summer with all of you?" she asked.

"Simple," Yumi responded. "We'd just pack you up and take you with us." Aelita stared wide eyed at her dark haired friend.

"…Really?" she choked out.

"Really," Yumi responded. She then grinned, rolling to her feet. "Now come on Aelita," she said, heading for her door. "We need to hurry and get ready if we want to see Jeremy before his bus leaves." Flashing her own grin in response, Aelita bounced up and headed for her bag, quickly rummaging her bathroom things out and then hurrying after Yumi. Elbowing playfully for control of the sink, the girls quickly scrubbed their teeth and faces, dragging brushes through unruly hair as they raced back to Yumi's room.

At some point the entire morning became a race, the girls hurling themselves into their outfits. After trying to put her head through a sleeve twice, Aelita finally got her shirt on straight, just in time to watch Yumi topple onto her bed, her shorts on one leg.

"I'm winning!" she announced, cramming her sleep clothes into her duffle. Yumi's response was to lob a pillow at Aelita's head. Laughing, Aelita tossed it back.

"Ugh," Yumi sighed, collapsing onto her side. "We're as bad as the boys."

"No," Aelita shook her head, "we're actually up before noon." Yumi blinked at Aelita.

"Good point."

The two girls stared at one another for a moment before dissolving into giggles.

"Okay, okay," Yumi said, trying to regain control of herself. "We need to make sure we've got all our stuff ready to go." Aelita glanced over at the bags piled neatly by the door, looked down at her duffel, and nodded.

"Check."

"And all your school stuff is stashed away?" Yumi asked. Aelita motioned to the pile of boxes in the corner.

"Check."

"Good. Let's go!"

And, after a long look, the race continued as the girls flung themselves at the luggage. Grabbing whatever was closest to hand, the girls loaded their arms with the black and pink bags and bolted out the door. They hesitated briefly at the stairs, but eventually made it to the living room in a semblance of one piece.

"Good morning?"

Looking up from the pile of luggage and bodies they'd currently become, Yumi and Aelita were surprised to see Yumi's parents sitting at the table, Ms. Ishiyama nursing a cup of coffee while her husband peered at the girls over his newspaper. The girls struggled to stifle giggles at Mr. Ishiyama's bewildered look.

"I see you two are excited," Ms. Ishiyama said, smiling at the girls. They nodded, still giggling.

"You're turning in your room keys today, right Aelita?" Mr. Ishiyama asked. At Aelita's nod, he added, "If you want we can load your bags into the car, and I'll give you a ride to the school."

"Umm," the girls hummed, glancing at one another.

"Actually," Yumi said, still grinning, "I think we'll walk. It's not that far."

"And the fresh air will wake us up a bit," Aelita agreed.

"And maybe take care of your giggles," Ms. Ishiyama added playfully, as Yumi and her friend continued struggling to keep their expressions neutral. Mr. Ishiyama paused, seemingly considering having the two girls giggling away in the back of his car.

"On second thought, I think your mother's right. The walk will do you two good. Now Yumi, come say goodbye to your parents—you won't be seeing us for six weeks."

"Of course." Dropping her bags, Yumi bounded to the kitchen, giving each of her parents a quick hug.

"Here," Mr. Ishiyama said as Yumi pulled away. He was holding out a white envelope. "Take this with you." Yumi eyed the envelope curiously as she took it, holding it up to the light to try and look inside.

"What is it?"

"Just a little spending money," Mr. Ishiyama said. "Plus a little extra for emergencies." Yumi hefted the envelope, an eyebrow raised at its weight.

"This seems like enough for me to get a hotel all summer," she observed. She flashed her mother and Aelita a playful look as she added, "don't you trust that Odd actually has a house for us to stay in?"

"No."

Mr. Ishiyama seemed confused by the laughter his response earned, but before he could question it Ms. Ishiyama took charge.

"Alright you two," she said, waving one hand at her bewildered husband, "I think it's about time you were off."

"It's almost like you want me gone," Yumi sighed.

"Oh, nonsense," her mother said, while at the same time her father said, "we might." He smiled when Yumi pouted at him, and waved her towards the door.

"Off with you. Go enjoy your summer."

With a final round of hugs, Yumi and Aelita gathered up their bags, piling as much as they could atop their suitcases. Shouldering her backpack, Yumi threw open the front door, pointing out to the street beyond. Laughing, Aelita hefted her duffle, shouting a quick "see you in the fall!" to Yumi's parents as Yumi grabbed her hand and tugged her out the door.

As they reached the sidewalk, Yumi heaved a giant sigh, shifting her luggage around for a comfortable way to carry it all.

"So, Aelita, are you ready for the most amazing summer vacation you're ever going to have?"

Frowning thoughtfully, Aelita said, "This is the only summer vacation I've ever had."

"Well then," Yumi said, tossing an arm around the girl's shoulders, "you'll just have to deal with the fact that you're never going to have one that's better. Of course, that's assuming that my dad wasn't right."

"About what?"

"About Odd not having a house at all. He might just be tricking us into flying all the way to New Zealand with him as some kind of prank."

"You don't think he'd really do such a thing, do you?" Aelita asked, her brow furrowing with worry. Noticing the expression, Yumi laughed.

"You never know," she said, winking playfully, "Odd is a fan of pulling pranks on people." Aelita pulled a face.

"You're right," she said. Glancing at the envelope sticking out of Yumi's backpack, she asked, "Do you think there's enough money in there for both of us to survive the summer?"

"Both of us? What about Ulrich?"

"He can spend the summer being homeless with Odd," Aelita decided. "I'm sure they'd love it." Yumi laughed.

"I bet they would."

The girls continued to joke as they walked to Kadic, alternating between listing all of the things they were going to do over the summer and coming up with all kinds of wild adventures for a homeless Odd ad Ulrich. By the time they'd reached the school they'd gotten to "tan themselves silly" and "build a raft out of their mattresses to get back to France" respectively, and were in the middle of trying to decide which of the boys would be captain of the S.S. Kiwi when they finally arrived outside the boys' dorm.

The girl's first knock was unsurprisingly ineffective, the second as productive as the first.

"Should we try calling them?" Aelita asked. Yumi shook her head.

"That's too polite." Glancing down the hall, Yumi eyed the open doors of the mostly empty rooms. Deeming her impending actions as unlikely to disturb anyone else, she turned back to the door and, with a devious look in Aelita's direction, began her own version of a wake-up call.

"Good morning Ulrich!" she bellowed, pounding his door with both fists. "Rise and shine!"

Aelita stuffed her fist in her mouth, struggling valiantly to hold back her laughter. Glancing down the hall out of habit, she expected to see Jim barreling towards them, shouting at them to behave themselves. Instead all she got was a single curious look from a boy tugging a final suitcase out of his room.

A mumbled response from behind Ulrich's door has Yumi stepping back with a satisfied smirk, the door opening a moment later to reveal the scruffy haired, blurry eyed brunet. He blinked at the girls a few times, scowling at their bright smiles.

"I'm up," he started to say, only to be interrupted by a jaw-cracking yawn.

"I can see that," Aelita said, pulling a face as Ulrich yawned again. "I see you boys planned your morning well."

"Mmm," Ulrich agreed, waving his hand limply for the girls to come in as he padded back into his room. Aelita and Yumi exchanged looks as they followed, tugging their luggage into the little dorm after them.

"Oh my God," Yumi gasped, stopping short at the sight of the boy's room.

"Wow," Aelita agreed.

"What?" Ulrich mumbled.

"You're room," Yumi breathed. "I've never seen it so…so _clean._"

For the first time since they'd moved in, the dorm was spotless, the wardrobe, dressers, and desk all free of clutter; only the luggage piled in the middle of the room showing that the room hadn't yet been vacated. Even the beds had been stripped, something that left Yumi momentarily confused.

"Ulrich," she said slowly, eyebrow raising, "where are your sheets?"

"Hmm? Packed," Ulrich said, his voice muffled by the sweatshirt he was using as a pillow. He'd draped another jacket, which looked suspiciously like Odd's, across himself for a blanket. Odd's bed looked no less comfortable, the blonde (who'd slept through Yumi's wake-up call) sleeping under a towel, his head pillowed on his arms. Both of them had opted to sleep in their clothes.

"You two are ridiculous."

"And going to make us late," Aelita added. Unlike her male companions, Aelita was studiously keeping track of the time, not about to be late to her first ever summer vacation.

"I know," Ulrich sighed. Rolling onto his back, he bunched Odd's jacked up, narrowing his eyes as he gauged the distance between him and the blonde. "Della Robbia, up-and-at-um'."

The purple jacket landed neatly across Odd's head. The heap of fabric gave a confused sound before shifting around, Odd's spike of hair appearing a moment later. He blinked sleepily at his jacket, and then up at Yumi and Aelita. He seemed completely unfazed by the fact that the two people he'd threatened with wake-up calls were instead standing in the middle of his dorm, waking _him_ up.

"Morning," he said, grinning as he stretched. Tossing his towel atop his suitcase, he asked, "you girls ready for the best summer of your lives?" Aelita nodded, fidgeting with her excitement. Ulrich just sighed.

"Couldn't you have booked a later flight?" he whined. Odd, who was now sitting up, stared at his roommate.

"We don't leave till almost seven thirty," he said. "So, no, not really." Ulrich huffed in response.

"Seven thirty?" Yumi repeated.

"Yep." Jumping up, Odd, maneuvered through all of the luggage now in the room. It took him a few moments of digging before he found his backpack, from which he produced what Yumi recognized as plane tickets. Stumbling his way over a duffle, Odd handed Yumi and Aelita their tickets, tossing the fourth on Ulrich's chest. Making a face at the blonde, Ulrich picked up the little envelope, pawing through the tickets inside to get an idea of their flight plan.

"What are these?" Yumi asked, doing the same. When Odd looked, she held up two small tickets she'd found tucked in her envelope.

"They're for the train and the bus," Odd said. At Yumi's look he added, "It's a long trip—but worth it! And once we get the island we'll have all the transportation we'll need for the rest for the rest of the summer."

"Which is only good if you're not driving," observed Ulrich, who was now out of bed and pulling on his shirt.

"You're one to talk," Odd deadpanned, while the girls stifled giggles.

"Looks like you four are having a good morning."

"Jeremy!" Aelita cried, as the group turned to see their bespectacled friend standing in the doorway.

"Hey Einstein," Ulrich said, "Here to see us off?"

"Yes, but not just that." Jeremy reached into his pocket as he said, "I have something for Aelita. I think she's going to need it if she plans on spending the summer in New Zealand." He handed the pink haired girl a small booklet, its cover embossed with gold. She blinked at it in confusion for a moment before asking,

"You got me a book?"

"Not quite," Jeremy said. "It's a passport. You'll need it to fly out of the country."

"Good thinking, Einstein," Odd said, appearing at Aelita's shoulder.

"I didn't know Aelita had a passport," Yumi said.

"She didn't," Jeremy said. At his friend's confused looks, he added, "when I made all the fake paperwork to get her into Kadic, I also made her a passport. She needed proof of citizenship, and I thought it might come in handy." Aelita's eyes lit up as she realized that her new passport was what would let her spend the summer with her friends. Grinning, she bounced forward, pulling Jeremy into a hug.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Jeremy said, quickly returning Aelita's hug. Yumi winked at him over Aelita's shoulder, while Odd made a kissy face. Quickly pulling back from the hug, Jeremy ducked his head to hide his spread blush. Blinking in confusion, Aelita glanced from Jeremy to Yumi, who decided now might be a good moment to save Jeremy before he blushed himself into a coma.

"Come on guys, let's go get your keys turned in."

The change in topic worked, as suddenly everyone threw themselves into the juggling required for the group to get all of their duffle bags, suitcases, backpacks, and various other travel accessories down the hall to the elevator. Once inside, it was a mini-battle to prevent Odd from pressing more buttons than required to get them to the bottom floor. Eventually, however, the group made it out of the dorm and across campus to the office, where a short line of luggage toting students stood waiting to hand in room keys.

The wait was wholly uneventful, and they were able to hand over their keys without incident (although, the woman at the counter had given Odd's key a funny look, which only turned to concern when Odd explained that the weird stain on it was a mix of dried paint and pudding). Afterwards, without really discussing it, the group began following Jeremy as he headed for the bus that would take the students taking summer classes to the university where they would be staying.

"You know, I can get on a bus by myself," Jeremy joked as he handed his suitcase off to Jim, who was loading the bus's luggage bay.

"Oh honey, we just wanted to make sure you got here okay," Odd said, tossing an arm around Jeremy's shoulder. "Will you be able to find your seat okay? Did you pack enough underwear? You won't forget to email, will you? And call every day?"

"No mom," Jeremy said, rolling his eyes as he pulled away from the blonde.

"Ignore him," Ulrich said, giving his grinning roommate a shove. "He's just still sore about you not coming with us."

"I can't believe you would really rather spend your summer at _school_," Odd said, draping himself dramatically against Ulrich for extra effect. Ulrich sidestepped, watching with a raised eyebrow as Odd, unsuspecting, tumbled to the ground.

"We will miss you, you know," Yumi said, stepping over Odd to give Jeremy a hug.

"You guys will be fine," Jeremy said. "But I'll call regularly, just in case." Yumi laughed.

"I'll make sure they don't burn the island down."

"Can you burn down an island?" Odd asked from where he was still lying on the ground.

"We couldn't," Ulrich said, "but you could." While Odd took a swipe at Ulrich's ankles, Aelita stepped forward for her hug.

"I think your summer classes sound fun," she told Jeremy with a smile. "You'll have to tell me all about them."

"Don't worry, I will," Jeremy said. "As long as you promise to be safe over the summer. Make sure were wear plenty of sunscreen, and don't go anywhere unfamiliar by yourself. And if Odd tells you to do something he says is safe? Don't."

"Everyone's against me," Odd moaned, while Aelita giggled into her hand.

"We'll take good care of her," Ulrich said, giving Aelita a quick, one-armed hug. "She won't get into any trouble with us around."

"I'm sure," Jeremy said. Before he could further express his opinion concerning his friends' babysitting skills, he was interrupted by a shout from Jim.

"Belpois, are you coming?" he asked, leaning out of the bus's door. "We're pulling out!"

"Yeah Jim, I'm coming," Jeremy shouted over his shoulder. "I'll see you guys in the fall then."

"You know it," Odd said.

"If Odd doesn't fail this year, that is," Ulrich joked. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Have a good summer Jeremy," she said. "We'll keep you posted."

"I'll call as soon as we get to Odd's house to let you know if it exists or not," Aelita added, smiling brightly. Jeremy quirked an eyebrow at this, but before he could ask for further clarification Odd appeared at his side, nudging him towards the bus.

"They're going to leave without you, Einstein," he said, giving Jeremy one final push.

"I'm going, I'm going," Jeremy sighed, swatting at his friend. The others wished him a good summer, shouting final reminders that he call regularly, not forget to use his webcam, and to not talk to strangers. Jeremy stopped at the bus door to wave goodbye before he was swept onboard by the school's gym teacher, whose faint, "Did I ever tell you about the time I drove a bus in the army?" could be heard as the door slid shut.

The gang continued to wave as the bus pulled away from the school, turning down the street and quickly vanishing from sight. And then they let their hands drop, looking at one another as they waited for someone to come up with what they were going to do next. For almost a minute they just looked back and forth, until their gazes turned collectively to Odd, who was looking out at the road. It took him a few seconds before he realized everyone was looking at him.

"Uh…yes?" he tried, giving his friends a confused look.

"Well?" Ulrich asked. Odd blinked at him. Ulrich sighed.

"Don't we have a train station to get to?" Yumi asked. Odd stared at her for a moment, before his expression lit with understanding.

"Oh, yeah, that," he said. "Don't worry, I've got it covered."

"Really?" Yumi asked, her expression dripping with disbelief.

"You know, it is possible for me to be on top of things," Odd said as he crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. As if to prove his point, Odd's sentence ended with the arrival of a taxi, pulling neatly into the school's bus circle. The girls looked at the taxi, and then to Odd and back, their surprise written all over their faces. Ulrich, on the other hand, looked a little less impressed.

"Your parents called the taxi company, didn't they?" he asked. Odd frowned.

"You just like picking on me, don't you?"

"I do take some pleasure in it, yes."

"Guys, I think he's waiting for us," Aelita said, motioning to the cab driver, who was leaning against his cab and watching the group.

"Well then, I guess we'd better get going." Grabbing the handle of his suitcase, Odd marched off towards the cab, leaving his friends to gape at his back for a moment, before scrambling to gather their things and follow him. The cab driver watched with disinterest as Odd approached, although his expression shifted to surprise, and then disbelief as the number of teenagers and bags around his car grew.

"Did you remember everything?" he asked, his tone sarcastic. Odd, who was either ignoring the tone or didn't catch it, nodded brightly.

"We sure did," he started to say, before pausing. "Oh, wait." Taking off his backpack, Odd pulled it open, a grin on his face as a furry grey head appeared. Kiwi yapped happily as Odd pulled him out and set him on the ground.

"That's a good boy," Odd cooed, scratching the little dog's ears. "Come on Kiwi, you ready to go home?" With another yap, Kiwi followed Odd as he clambered into the back of the cab. Yumi stared after him, before turning to Ulrich and asking,

"Was Kiwi in his backpack the whole time?" Ulrich shrugged.

"I guess," he said, before dumping his bags by Odd's and following him into the cab. Yumi and Aelita glanced at the luggage pile, then to the frowning cabbie, then shrugged and deposited their bags with the others and joined the boys in the cab.

As the door's to his car slammed shut, the cab driver, used to shuttling herds of students back and forth, could only look at the pile of bags and sigh.

This was going to be a long summer.


	3. Yay, summer

**And the adventure continues! Writing Aelita on the train was ridiculously fun, and by the looks of things Jer's summer won't be as lame as Odd thinks it's going to be 'wink, wink'. And so, like our heroes, onward!**

* * *

><p>The taxi pulled up outside the train station's row of revolving doors, joining its half dozen fellows as they deposited piles of boxes, heaps of luggage, and over burdened students. As soon as the Taxi rolled to a stop its doors were opening, the gang spilling out to join their fellows in the controlled chaos of returning home for the summer.<p>

As soon as she stepped out Aelita's eyes went wide. For a moment all she could do was stare at the station; through the constantly spinning doors she could just make out the bustling crowds, the row of ticket counters, and the massive arrivals and departures board filling the main lobby.

"You ready for your first train ride?" Ulrich asked playfully, hefting his bag over his shoulder. Behind him Odd struggled to drag his over-packed suitcase from the taxi's trunk, unassisted by the cab driver, who was watching the blonde's antics with a flat look.

Aelita could only nod in response, biting her lip to hold back a grin.

"Don't let your excitement get the best of you," Yumi said, smiling when the pink haired girl looked her way. Yumi motioned to the open trunk. "You don't want to forget your bags, do you?"

"Oh!" Hurrying over, Aelita, with Ulrich's help, retrieved her pink baggage, quickly adding it the pile the group was accumulating on the curb. Shaking his head, Ulrich shoved Odd aside and started pulling the blonde's bags out as well, leaving Odd to pay their cab driver.

"Mom and Dad's funding," Ulrich explained, before Aelita could ask were Odd was getting his money from.

"You know, I actually do have some of my own money," Odd said, as he stuffed his wallet back into his pocket.

"Invisible money doesn't count."

Sticking his tongue out, Odd turned his back to Ulrich. Ulrich rolled his eyes in Aelita's direction as Odd started tugging his giant case from luggage pile. After a brief struggle, in which the case rolled onto one side, almost taking Odd down with it, Odd eventually got the bulging purple suitcase on its wheels and heading towards the doors—

Only to get it trapped in one of the revolving doors. Grumbling a string of less than polite names at his suitcase, Odd tugged on the handle, trying to get it un-wedged. He succeeded only on falling over.

Doing little to hide their laughter, the trio outside gathered their things and headed through one of the doors Odd wasn't blocking. In the lobby they bunched together to avoid being separated in the crowd before quickly finding a quiet corner where they could both check the platform they were leaving from and wait for Odd to rejoin them.

"We're leaving from a…a platform?" Aelita asked as they tucked behind a decorative plant. Yumi nodded as she pulled out her train ticket. Aelita, whose definitions of a platform included a little raised thing you stood on and something politicians argued, was understandably confused.

"You'll see what we mean," Ulrich assured her as he checked his own ticket.

"Platform sixteen," a third voice said, causing the group to look up just as Odd appeared beside them, scuffed suitcase in hand. "Thanks for helping, by the way."

"You looked like you had it handled," Ulrich said, grinning as Yumi snorted into her hand. Kiwi, hanging in his little bag on Odd's shoulder, barked.

"No one asked you," Odd frowned. Kiwi stared at him for a moment, and then tilted his head, tongue lolling out happily.

"So, where is this platform?" Aelita asked curiously, redirecting everyone's focus. Odd, his annoyance quickly forgotten in the face of Aelita's enthusiasm, turned and pointed off to the group's right.

"Right this way," he announced, as he started marching off into the crowd.

"Not so fast, Marco Polo," Ulrich said, grabbing Odd's backpack and pulling him back. Pointing to the group's left, he said, "it's actually this way." Odd blinked at his friend, and then asked,

"You know who Marco Polo is?" Ulrich frowned.

"Yeah. He was a guy who didn't get his suitcase stuck in revolving doors."

Recognizing a wrestling match in the making, Yumi nabbed Aelita's arm and together they started out across the lobby, Yumi heading for the hallway beneath the sign reading 'Platforms 15-19'. When they realized they were being left behind the boys scrambled to keep up with the girls before they were lost in the crowd.

Aelita's amazement was in no way dulled by the hustle and bustle around her, her friends all but dragging her along as she continually turned around to get a better look at all of the new and interesting sights around her. However, it took the sight of the train its self to stop Aelita in her tracks completely. She was unaware of the grins her friends exchanged as she stared up at the massive silver engine, her mouth hanging open as she tried to take in every inch of the hulking beast in a single glance.

"Cool, huh?" Odd asked. Aelita nodded numbly.

"If you think that's cool, wait till we get inside."

"Inside?" Aelita repeated, eyeing the train critically.

"We don't ride inside the engine," Ulrich said, correctly interpreting Aelita's confusion. "We ride in the cars." He motioned to the string of cars trailing behind the engine, all colored in the same silver and lined with dark windows.

"Oh," Aelita breathed, eyeing the cars. "Which one do we ride in?" It was Odd who answered her.

"Why don't we go find out?"

* * *

><p>When Jeremy first climbed onto the school's chartered bus he'd been surprised by the number of kids who'd opted for summer classes. His surprise had grown when he noticed William among the bunch, sitting by himself near the back, his nose shoved into a book. And as Jeremy took the only open seat, which happened to be beside William, his surprise reached its peak when he spotted the girl taking up two seats across the aisle.<p>

William had looked up curiously when Jeremy arrived. When Jeremy gave him a pointed look and then motioned to Sissi he'd simply shrugged, having since settled on simply being baffled by the girl's presence. With no further illuminations forthcoming, Jeremy was left to be similarly baffled and, taking that as his cue, he set the issue of Sissi's presence aside for another time and, still using William as a role model, pulled out a book of his own and began to read.

Content in their new found literary silence, the boys found no reason to join in the chatter filling the rest of the bus as it pulled away from Kadic. Or, they didn't until, after a few minutes, Jeremy suddenly found he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. Eventually looking up, he was surprised to see a familiar face peering down from overtop the seat in front of him.

"Uh, hi Emily."

"Hey Jeremy," Emily said, chin resting on her folded arms.

"Didn't you…have a question?" Jeremy asked.

"Nope."

"Oh. Okay."

Still confused, but not sure what else to say, Jeremy turned back to his book. He could still feel Emily's eyes on him as he read, but he did his best to ignore her gaze. Just as Jeremy was beginning to feel uncomfortable, he looked up, planning on asking Emily to stop staring—

Only to be met by two stares instead of one.

"Hello, Theo."

"Hey."

Jeremy's gaze traveled between Theo, who was trying to look all kinds of innocent, and Emily, who was clearly grinning into the crook of her elbow. He sighed. Tucking away his book, he asked,

"Okay, what are you two up to?" Theo scowled.

"What makes you think we're up to anything?" Jeremy's response was a flat look. Theo sighed. "I wouldn't call it 'up to something'," he defended. "More like…helping a friend."

"…What?"

"Odd asked me to do him a favor," Theo explained. "Since you decided to do the most boring thing possible for the summer, he wanted me to make sure you didn't spend what little time of you summer you _won't_ spend in class doing boring stuff. Like reading." William frowned over his book at the soccer player, while Jeremy rolled his eyes.

"You can tell Odd I appreciate the concern, but his idea of boring isn't exactly everyone's idea of boring. And speaking of boring," Jeremy added after a moment's pause, "if studying all summer is so _boring_, why are you doing it?"

"You think I'm choosing to do this?" Theo asked. "Please. My parents are making me take the classes." He snorted, then added, "Is there anyone who actually chose to do this?"

Jeremy raised his hand, giving Theo a pointed look. Theo scoffed, although he blinked his surprise when Emily, grin growing, raised her hand, as did William, eyes still on his book. Shaking his head, Theo sighed.

"You guys are the weirdest people I've ever met."

"Weirdest?" Emily repeated. At Theo's look she motioned to Sissi, half hidden by a pile of silver luggage and nose deep in a fashion magazine.

"I'll bet she didn't volunteer for this torture either."

"Neither did we," William mumbled, giving Theo a look. When he realized what the older boy meant Theo, with an affronted scowl, dropped back into his seat and out of sight. Emily flashed William a grin and then, with a conspiratorial wink to Jeremy, she too disappeared.

Turning back to his book Jeremy was only half aware of the blush now coloring his cheeks, and oblivious to the look William sent between the blonde and the back of Emily's seat.

Struggling to immerse himself back into his book, Jeremy heaved a mental sigh. It wasn't a private island with his friends, Jeremy thought, but it looked like his summer might turn out interesting after all.

* * *

><p>Aelita peered through the glass window, hands at either side of her face.<p>

Two eyes peered back from under scruffy bangs and over a stuffed bear.

Grinning, Aelita curled her fingers in a wave. The little boy watching her smiled wide, exposing a missing front tooth and a bright laugh. A hand appeared on Aelita's arm just as the boy's mother looked up to see what had caught her son's attention, quickly pulling the girl away.

"He was cute," Aelita said brightly.

"I know," Yumi said, tugging her friend down the aisle. "But we really can't stop and look into every car we pass. Not everyone likes being peered at through window."

"Those kids from earlier didn't mind," Aelita said, tilting her head back to glance into a compartment full of ladies knitting.

"Yes, but that were from our school. They kind of know us. Those people," Yumi nudged Aelita away from a car carrying business men on their cell phones, "on the other hand, don't know us. And an unfamiliar girl staring at you on a train is kind of weird." Aelita, used to her small school where everyone pretty much knew everyone else, frowned.

"People on trains are weird," she decided.

"We're on here," Yumi pointed out.

"So is Odd." Yumi laughed.

"Come on, let's go find the boys. They're probably at our compartment by now."

True to form, as soon as they'd boarded the train the boys had bolted, racing to see who could find their seats first. Bags flying and Kiwi barking, it wasn't long before they'd vanished from sight, leaving the girls to make their own way.

Keeping one hand on her friend, Yumi lead the way across the junction from one car to the next. Luckily this one was less occupied, many of the compartments still sitting open, providing less of a distraction for the ever curious Aelita. And now, with her gaze turned forward, it was she who spotted their friends first.

"Odd!" she cried, as the blonde's spike of hair peeked into the aisle. Ulrich appeared a moment later, waving.

"Couldn't even wait to help the girls with their bags?" Yumi teased as she and Aelita shuffled their luggage into the compartment.

"I had to go save our seats!" Kiwi, who'd already been released from his bag, barked in agreement with Odd.

"Right," Yumi drawled. "You had to save our pre-assigned seats." As Aelita giggled, Yumi rounded on Ulrich. "What's your excuse?"

"I had to keep Odd from getting lost."

"The train's a straight line and the compartments are numbered chronologically."

"I had to keep Odd from getting lost."

When Yumi failed to look convinced Ulrich motioned to the blonde. He was attempting to shove his over-packed bag under the seat, feet skidding across the ground as he fought against the laws of physics.

"Valid point."

"Are you talking about me?" Odd asked, as he slumped against his bag in defeat.

"Yes," the pair chorused.

"You're terrible friends."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Propping his bag against the wall, Ulrich dropped into the seat beside the blonde. Giving up on his bag, Odd joined him, using the suitcase as a foot rest. Eyeing the boys' overstuffed bags, Aelita looked at her own seat for a moment. She then gasped in mock surprise when her own bag slipped neatly into the little nook.

"Incredible," she breathed as she took her seat.

"Show off," Ulrich teased, while Yumi wiped away imaginary tears.

"I'm so proud."

"Yeah, yeah," Odd said, rolling his eyes as Yumi tucked her own bags away. "So you can origami your underwear to fit all tiny."

"It's easier when your underwear are clean," Aelita assured him. Ignoring his friends' snorts of laughter, Odd defended with,

"Boys have bigger underwear than you guys do."

"Like you would know what my underwear looks like," Yumi said.

"Actually—"

"No, stop." Yumi held up a hand. "Let's pretend I didn't say that." Odd grinned impishly.

"I was only going to say that I don't know what it looks like, but I bet Ulrich does."

Twin blushed, a bright laugh from Aelita, and items being thrown in his direction were Odd's response.

Once the collective embarrassment level of the compartment lowered to a tolerable level the gang fell into comfortable conversation. Odd and Ulrich talked about Jim's offer to make Ulrich captain of the soccer team next year and the girls, despite Odd's horrified looks, worked on picking the classes they wanted to take in the fall. However, now stuck behind a window of her own, Aelita only half paid attention as she turned her people watching onto the passengers filing up and down the aisle. Yumi was eventually forced to switch seats with her, just to keep her from gawking at unsuspecting passengers.

As it grew closer to the train's departure time Aelita found a new distraction, checking the time on her phone so often that Yumi found herself imitating the anxious behavior.

"You know, it won't go any faster just because you're staring at it." When Aelita blinked at him in confusion Ulrich added, "The time, it won't go faster."

"I know," Aelita said, tucking her phone away. "I'm just so excited."

"Well, it is your first train ride."

"A moment we should document!"

"What?" Aelita started to ask, before a flash of light answered her question. Grinning, Odd lowered the camera in his hands.

"When did you get that?" Ulrich asked, pausing to look thoroughly unamused as Odd snapped his picture.

"You should always have a camera on you."

"And you always have a camera?"

"Yes."

"…Always?"

"Doesn't everyone?" Odd's honestly confused expression had Ulrich hesitating—and failing to notice the girls stifling snickers at his expense.

As Ulrich struggled with his response, as series of soft chimes sounded, causing Aelita to look around the cabin in confusion. Yumi, the only other on not engaged in confusing Ulrich, smiled as the pink haired girl scowled accusingly at the ceiling.

"It means the conductor is going to make an announcement," she explained. Aelita's lips formed a small 'oh' of understanding as she nodded sagely. As the conductor cheerfully announced where they were departing from and set their next stop at Paris, the train groaned. Then, with the faintest of pulls, it began to move.

While the boys dissolved into a wrestling match ("Are you both twelve?" Yumi sighed), Aelita's hands and nose were pressed against the window. Leaping into her lap, Kiwi balanced his paws on the sill, and together they watched the station pulling away, the building quickly picking up speed as it raced further and further out of sight.

"Wow," she breathed, her face glowing with her excitement.

Across the compartment Odd and Ulrich shared knowing smiles as Odd's camera flashed.

"If you think this is great," the blonde said, "wait until you see the plane."

* * *

><p>The Kadic students frowned and grumbled as they piled off the bus, both irritated and confused by their gym teacher's insistence on making announcements in such a confined space via megaphone. With Jim's magnified assurance that their bags would find them later tonight, the students were sent trudging towards the building they would be staying in for the summer.<p>

"Hello!" a cheery university student greeted as the Kadic bunch filed into the lobby of the small dorm building. She was sitting with a few others her age at the end of a long table, adorned with a sign reading "Room Assignments."

"Welcome, welcome!" the girl called, waving everyone in close. "Welcome to your first ever college experience! Whoo, exciting, right?" A few half hearted mumbles were her response. Not daunted in the least, she continued, "Before we start getting you all going with classes and such, we need to fist make sure you've got somewhere to sleep. Room assignments will be given right here, so everyone grab a roommate and sign in at the left end of the table!"

A general silence and lack of movement followed the girl's announcement. Then—

"Roommate?" The girl nodded.

"All rooms available are doubles, so we need you all to pair up. I recommend picking someone you think you can stand."

A kind of mini chaos broke out after that, students scrambling to be roomed with someone they actually liked. Jeremy, who had enjoyed a single room for his duration at Kadic, frowned his discomfort as he watched Theo march past, an arm around one of his teammates.

"Great," William muttered, also watching the rambunctious soccer players. Jeremy eyed the raven for a moment. Then, figuring he wasn't going to find anyone better, asked,

"Want to be roommates?"

"With someone who will read and study all summer?" William asked. "Absolutely." With that settled, they quickly joined the sign-up line behind Theo and his friend, Timothy. They were followed a moment later by Sissi and Emily, the former agreeing to room with the brunette only after realizing all of the other girls had already paired off.

After signing in, Jeremy and William were handed their new set of keys and, since line placement now made them neighbors, they piled into the elevator together with Emily, Sissi, Theo, and Timothy. After a quick ride to their floor they spilled back out into a hall flanked by two doors, each leading to a different set of room numbers. Passing through the appropriate door, they began their trek, realizing quickly that fate had left them with the rooms at the end of the hall.

"Why did we get the furthest possible rooms?" Sissi moaned. Her annoyance was slightly understandable, due to the load of bags she hadn't stowed on the bus, and was now forced to carry (something no one had offered to help carry, also understandable).

"Here we are," William sighed, when they finally reached their room. Behind him Theo and Timothy burst noisily into their own dorm across the hall. Rolling his eyes, William opened the door, revealing the room inside: two beds, two desks, a dresser, a closet, and a tiny bathroom.

"This is it?" Sissi could be heard shouting as the boys stepped inside. "Where's my vanity table? My walk in closet?" Across the hall the soccer players were making similar noise, a shout of "I call this one!" having turned into a loud wrestling match.

Together Jeremy and William sighed.

"Yay summer," William muttered. Jeremy could only nod.


	4. Now the real fun begins

**I love writing banter between the gang. And cute stuff. So much fun. With Camp Nano approaching I'm going to try and crank these chapters out a bit faster. Let's see how that goes. Ps. Thanks to Rena, whose update encouraged me to not fail. Any similarities between our stories are pure plagarism and the result of some kind of style osmosis. Enjoy~**

* * *

><p>Tired man in unbuttoned suits and loosened ties stuffed travel bags into the overhead bins, while mothers buckled in sleepy children. Passengers mumbled their half-hearted annoyance as their chairs were jostled by those still trying to find their seats. Those traveling in light summer clothing tucked into jackets and blankets, chilled by the recycled air circulating through the cabin.<p>

And, bouncing in her seat, Aelita took in every unglamorous detail with barely contained excitement.

"Ready for your next first of the day?" Ulrich asked, flashing Aelita a smile as he crammed his duffle into the overhead bin. Aelita nodded rapidly before being distracted by her window as she caught sight of a little transport loaded with luggage barreling across the tarmac.

As everyone settled into their seats and the plane began moving away from the airport, Aelita's exciting bouncing picked up in intensity. Peering out the window, she waved to the men directing the plane as it backed up and, more than once, she tapped Yumi's arm to show her something that excited her.

Laughing, Yumi handed Aelita a magazine and a little, plane provided pillow.

"Just wait until we're in the air," she said. "Then you'll have something to look at." Eyeing going wide, Aelita pressed her hands to the window, eagerly awaiting whatever sights she would be seeing next.

Eventually the plane, which had been wandering along at an easy, winding pace, rolled to a stop. A little confused, Aelita glanced to Yumi, who gave her an encouraging smile.

"We're about to take off," she said. "Better hold on tight." Clutching her jacket, which Yumi had made her fish from her bag before they boarded, Aelita tried to imagine what take off would be like. She only had a little time to wonder though.

Outside the plane the engines roared to life, the airplane beginning to inch along the runway. Accelerating quickly, the plane barreled along, bouncing a few times before lifting off. Aelita felt the exact moment when the plane went from being held up by the ground to being carried by air, and it filled her with an unexpected thrill. Quickly turning in her seat, Aelita looked to see if any of her friends had felt it too.

To her surprise, Yumi didn't seem to be paying the take off any attention at all as she perused one of the magazines she'd found in her seat pocket. Turning to peer between the two seats, Aelita spotted her two male friends. Odd was plastered to his window, obviously having as much fun as Aelita. Ulrich was clinging to his chair, and Aelita would have been hard pressed to say if he was enjoying himself or completely terrified.

Noticing Aelita watching him, Ulrich attempting what he must have thought was a smile. Grinning brightly back, Aelita turned back around in her seat and focused on her window once more.

A gasp escaped her at the sight that twinkled back.

Below all of Paris glowed bright, the lights if the city illuminated beautifully against the dark of the night. Aelita could still make out the headlights of cars as they followed the roads, like lines if bright little ands marching across a field of stars.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

Blinking, Aelita tilted her head to look back. Through the gap between her seat and the side of the plane she could see Odd grinning. She nodded.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

"Wait until you see London."

* * *

><p>Odd had been right. If she'd thought France had looked lovely from the air, it was nothing to seeing London as they swooped in to land.<p>

Being so low, Aelita could make out individual kinds if cars in the roadways as they weaved through the city. She was surprised to note that they seemed to be on the wrong side of the road. When she pointed this out to Odd, he simply nodded.

"Yeah, some places do that," he said, grinning mischievously. "Watch," he added, pointing to his own window. "We're starting to land."

With a thrill of excitement Aelita turned back to her window, her eyes widening as she realized they had indeed dropped even closer to the city below.

Watching the city rush up to meet them incredible. There was an almost surreal aspect to it all as the city transformed before her eyes from the beautiful cluster of lights into buildings, streets, cars, and even little moving dots that she realized were people. They sailed across rooftops, so close Aelita was sure that, if she wanted, she could have reached out and touched the tips of their chimneys.

And then the buildings below them were gone, replaced by open fields as they swooped in over the airport itself, its maze of runways and jetways illuminated with rows of little white lights. Aelita's fingers curled tightly around her armrest as she prepared for the landing. Without any previous experience to guide her, she couldn't be sure if it was going to be something rough and wild, or so gentle she didn't feel it at all.

In the end, it turned out to be a little of both.

The plane bounced when the wheels first touched the ground, lifting up and hitting the ground again before staying on the runway. Slowing drastically, the plane shook as it decelerated from airborne speeds to something a little more ground friendly.

Blinking, a wide grin spitting her face, Aelita swiveled to see what her friends' reactions were to yet another new experience. She was slightly surprised to note that they weren't all that different from when the plane first took off: Yumi was still reading her magazine, Odd was still plastered to his window, and Ulrich still looked like he might just start crying.

"Well, Aelita?" Yumi asked, as the plane began making its way towards the gate. "What did you think of you first flight?" Aelita, who looked fit to burst with her excitement, grinned brightly.

"Can we fly everywhere from now on?"

Yumi laughed, while behind her Ulrich made a disgruntled noise, triggering further laughter from his friends.

"Don't worry princess," Odd answered her. "You're going to get your fill of flying soon." Ulrich sighed.

"Don't remind me."

While his friends continued to poke fun at Ulrich's expense, the plane worked its way to the walkway extending out over the tarmac. Man in orange vests waved the plane in to position, as numerous little cars towing empty baggage carts converged on the flying behemoth.

Inside the plane people began to shuffle and move, sighing and stretching as they climbed to their feet. Some people began rummaging through overhead bins while others climbed to their feet, moving with purpose into the aisles without going anywhere. Eyeing her fellow plane riders, Aelita unbuckled her seatbelt, preparing to stand as well, when a hand appeared on her arm.

"Not yet," Yumi said, using her free hand to tuck away her magazine. At Aelita's confused look she continued, "we don't have to catch our flight right away, so we're not in a rush."

Leaning back in her seat, Aelita watched as the few people standing quickly turned into a single-file crowd, people packing into the aisle as they gathered their bags close. Only a few others had remained seated.

Eventually, with an announcement from the pilot, the line-crowd began an awkward shuffle towards the exit. It took some time for them to filter out, but by the time they were gone the plane was left to those who had waited patiently, who were now able to gather their things at their leisure before disembarking from the plane.

Aelita wasn't sure when, but at some point she'd made the assumption that airports would all look alike. Stepping into her second airport of the day soon proved her wrong, bringing her to an abrupt stop as she stepped out of the gangway and into her first look at London's airport. Grinning at their friend's amazement, the rest of the gang scooted unobtrusively to the side to allow Aelita her moment of wonder. Eventually Aelita noticed her friends waiting and, with a sheepish grin, hurried over to join them.

"What do we do now?" she asked, allowing her bag to drop at her feet. Before anyone could respond, a gurgling noise filled the air.

As one, all eyes turned towards the source.

"What?" Odd asked, scowling as he covered his stomach. "I'm hungry."

"Well, I think that answers that question." Ulrich grinned as he hefted his bag onto his shoulder. "Let's go find something to eat."

* * *

><p>While the others dug into their food, Aelita only half paid attention to her dinner. Her gaze was busy darting around the restaurant, taking in the sight of people from all over the world catching a quick burger with their luggage tucked under the table. She was so engrossed in her people watching that she failed to see the amused looks her friends were giving her.<p>

Eventually her appetite got the best of her and Aelita turned to her sandwich. As she finally got to munching, she decided to direct the group in conversation, presenting them with the question foremost on her mind.

"So, Odd," she said, around a mouthful of turkey, "what's your home going to be like?"

"Yeah Odd,' Yumi said, a teasing glint in her eye, "Let's hear about this imaginary house of yours."

"Huh?"

As the girls dissolved into oddly knowing giggles, Odd turned a confused look on his friend.

"What does she mean by 'imaginary'?" he asked. Ulrich shrugged, not looking up from his dinner.

"Her dad probably thinks you're lying about having a house, and this you're just getting us to fly to some empty island in New Zealand as some kind of practical joke."

"Me?" Odd asked, a hand plastered across his chest. "Why would he ever think such a thing about sweet, innocent little me?"

"Because he's met you?" Ulrich tried. Aelita giggled as Yumi rested her chin in her hand.

"So, Odd, tell us about the house."

"Please," Odd said, wrinkling his nose. Yumi pulled a face back. Rolling his eyes, Odd settled back into his chair. "Okay, so. The summer house." He paused, then, "you guys know my mom's an artist, right?"

"Yeah," Ulrich said, flashing Yumi a confused look. "So?"

"Well, a few years ago she did this giant painting of what her dream house would look like, if she could have it. She spent months on it—it was practically a member of the family for a while. Dad would always joke that we needed to make an extra plate of food for it at dinner.

"Anyway, so my mom spent forever painting this thing. We never got to see it though, because she wanted the final thing to be a surprise. But she ended up finishing it right before one of her gallery show things, so she took it with her to the show before we got to see it, and it someone bought it."

"That sucks," Ulrich said. Aelita nodded.

"It must have been a shame to miss it."

"Oh, it was," Odd assured her. "But we got over it."

"Good old Della Robbia attention span?" Yumi joked. Ulrich grinned.

"I think that runs in the boys of the family."

"Ha ha," Odd deadpanned.

"So, did you ever get to see the painting?" Aelita asked, redirecting the conversation in her usual, curious way. Grinning, Odd turned to the pink haired girl to continue his story.

"Kind of. See, after the painting got bought, my dad started traveling a lot more for his work. He'd been saying he was expecting to get promoted or something, so we didn't think anything of it."

"I'm failing to see how this relates to a summer house," Ulrich observed.

"Don't interrupt," Yumi said, waving a hand in his direction.

"Yeah Ulrich. Don't rush the story. So, dad started working more. For like, a year and a half he spent more and more time working away from home. It started to annoy mom, actually. She didn't like that he was home so little. Especially because their anniversary was coming up." Aelita and Yumi, enticed by a possible romance plot twist, leaned in closer. Ulrich, less interested, returned to his sandwich. Odd ignored the brunet, taking advantage of his captive female audience.

"So, their anniversary was like, two days away, and my dad had been out of town for almost two weeks. And then without any warning my dad shows up and tells us he's got tickets for the whole family to take a weekend trip. Mom? Was so mad. She was expecting some kind of dinner and movie for two thing, not having to lug her bratty kids on a trip somewhere."

"Bratty kids meaning her daughters and annoying son?"

Odd frowned at Ulrich.

"I'll have you know, I'm the favorite child of the family."

"I thought Adele was the favorite?"

"Adele?" Aelita asked.

"My oldest sister," Odd supplied. "She's second favorite."

"I thought your parents were getting annoyed with your grades this year?" Yumi asked. It was Ulrich who answered her.

"Don't you remember the parent-teacher conferences last semester?" The dark haired girl was silent for a long moment as she remembered that particular scene.

"That's right," she said, shaking her head. "What was it they called it? 'Expressing his inner creativity'?" Ulrich snorted. That had been one way to describe Odd's April fool's pranks.

"I think Delmas called it 'vandalism'."

"He just has no appreciation for a good sense of humor," Odd defended. "You should have heard my parents when I told them about Jer's spray painting spree," he added, referencing Jeremy's scheme to stay in school over a holiday break. "They were so proud I thought they were going to try and adopt him." Ulrich, the only member of the group who had spent time with all of Odd's family, choked on his food.

"Jeremy living with the Della Robbia horde?" he finally coughed out. "I'd pay to see that happen."

"Jer would fit in just fine," Odd said.

"Like a goldfish living with 'free spirited' piranhas." Odd sniffed.

"No appreciation for the artistically inclined."

"That's one way to put it."

Aelita, who was displeased with the way the discussion was deviating from a story who's plot she wanted to know, frowned openly.

"So what happened with the weekend trip?" she asked. A blank, blue eyed stare met her gaze. After a moment Odd seemed to remember the story he'd been telling.

"Oh, right," he said. "So, mom was all mad, but dad had already bought bus tickets so we had to go. He wouldn't tell us where we were going though, which we kids thought was awesome but mom thought was dumb.

"Anyway, we take this bus all the way across New Zealand to this ratty little ferry port that had one boat that looked like it was going to sink any second. Mom was so mad at this point that she almost refused to get on the ferry, but dad let us kids all run ahead and get on, so she kind of had to."

"I feel like we're getting a look at what you'll be like as a parent," Ulrich said. Odd deftly ignored him.

"So the ferry leaves, and at this point everyone but my dad thinks it's going to start sinking before we actually get anywhere. But he tells us all to ignore it. And then we start heading for this little island and my mom immediately thinks my dad's trying to get us all to trespass on someone's property."

"Your dad would do that?" Aelita asked. Ulrich scowled.

"The better question is, 'your dad would do that twice?'" Odd laughed.

"He was welcoming you to the family!"

"I was arrested!"

"Being escorted back to my house via cop car isn't arrested." Ulrich huffed. Odd took this as a victory and continued his story.

"So, now mom is refusing to get _off _the boat, which dad thinks is hilarious and which he gets around by convincing us to all storm the island when the ferry gets there. So now mom is so pissed, but she gets off the boat and follows us, because dad told us to go running off down the path through the trees."

"And you did?" Aelita asks.

"Their dad is always telling them to do stupid stuff," Ulrich said. "And for some reason they always do it."

"Not stupid," Odd defended. "Fun."

"Like trespassing on private property?"

"He didn't tell you to get caught. That was your idea. But anyway," he continued, "we all go running off down this path with my parents following us. And we all think there's going to be like, a tent waiting at the end, because we think dad's still trying to mess with my mom. But we get to the other side of the island and there's not a tent. There's an entire house."

"So you _were _trespassing?"

"That's what we thought, till mom showed up. She stopped, stared at the house for like, an entire minute, and then my dad goes 'Happy anniversary!' and she bursts into tears."

"Wait, she cried?" Yumi asked, looking shocked. Odd nodded.

"After she calmed down we found out that the house was identical to the dream house she's painted. My dad was the one who bought the painting, and then he went and had the actual house built. He bought the island from a guy he worked with, and then he had a bunch of friends who owed him favors help him build it. When we thought he was going on long business trips he was actually going to the island to work on the house."

"Wow," Aelita breathed, her eyes bright with wonder. Yumi looked thoughtful for a moment, and then turned to Ulrich.

"I would like it noted that I also want my dream house as a gift." Odd burst into laughter while Ulrich sputtered, struggling to come up with an appropriate response. While Ulrich floundered and Yumi grinned her triumph, Aelita continued to pepper Odd with questions.

"Is it a big house?" she wondered.

"It's tall," Odd said. "There's a staircase in the middle that spirals up to the roof, and the floors all branch off it. I think my mom was going for some kind of flower effect through the house. There's this big flower shaped stained glass sky light and everything, and dad even put a little garden on the roof."

"It sounds lovely," Aelita breathed.

"That's not even the best part," Odd assured her. "The house faces the beach, and if you don't mind walking a little bit there's these awesome caves and a cool little inlet thing. And my dad built this awesome natural looking pool in the back. If you like swimming or exploring or napping, you're going to love this place."

"Sounds like it's got Aelita, me and Yumi, _and _you covered," Ulrich teased. Odd tossed a french-fry at him.

"I can't wait to see it," Aelita said, bouncing in her seat. "It sounds amazing."

"Don't worry, you'll get to see it soon enough."

"Sooner than you think," Yumi said, as she glanced at her phone. "We need to hurry up and get to the gate, the plane starts boarding in fifteen minutes."

The gang paused long enough to share an understanding look before they dove back into their food, quickly shoveling down what they could before Odd dumped a pile of bills on the table and, haphazardly gathering their things, the group took off into the airport. Filled with excitement brought on by Odd's description of the house, they raced through the crowds of people, bags trailing out behind them. In their excitement they reached their gate more quickly than expected, giving them time to catch their breath as they waited to board. Despite the disapproving looks from the adults sitting around them the gang continued to scuffle and laugh.

Luckily their energy began to fade as they piled onto the giant plane that would take them all the way to Australia. As they shuffled into their seats, claiming the center row of four to themselves, blankets and pillows began to emerge as they stuffed their bags into overhead bins. As she tucked herself into her pink throw, Aelita tried briefly to look out the window across the aisle, but even with the row of seats between her and the view empty she couldn't quite make out much beyond the dark night sky.

"Go to sleep, Aelita," Yumi said, fluffing her own pillow before propping it against an already softly snoring Ulrich. Glancing past her two friends, Aelita spotted Odd situating his pillow on his tray table.

"See you in the morning," he said with a smile before crossing his arms under his pillow and burrowing under his blanket. Taking her cue from her companions, Aelita tucked her pillow behind her head and pulled her blanket up under her chin, wondering as she did how anyone could sleep through something as incredible as flying.

She was asleep before the wheels ever left the ground.

* * *

><p>The faint sound of laughter was the first thing to reach Aelita's half sleeping mind.<p>

The sunlight streaming against her eyelids was a close second.

Frowning her discontent, Aelita wondered briefly why her blinds had decided to stop working before remembering just a moment later that she'd moved out of her dorm room already, causing her eyes to snap open.

"Good morning," Yumi greeted cheerfully when Aelita blinked blearily in her direction.

"Good morning," the boys parroted from behind her. Aelita turned her attention to them, and blinked again.

"Good…morning?" she said, staring at the boys and they grinned in her direction. "What happened to your hair?"

Odd and Ulrich glanced at one another, eyeing the pigtails, braids, and ribbons decorating their hair.

"It's a long flight," Yumi explained. "We're keeping busy."

Despite the less than comfortable nap she'd taken and the strangeness she'd awaken to, Aelita could feel her sleep rejuvenating her as she became steadily more awake.

"We're not there yet?" she asked, glancing around for an idea of the time.

"About two thirds of the way," Ulrich supplied, offering his wrist so she could see his watch. She did a double take when she saw that nearly nine hours had passed. She'd gotten an entire night's sleep, and they still weren't there!

"What are we supposed to do until we get there?" Aelita asked. As engrossing as flying had been before, she was now stuck away from an aisle, and with plenty of sleep in her she was getting antsy. Odd grinned, pulling out his backpack and setting it on his tray table. It landed with an impressive thump.

"Now the real fun begins."

With sunlight streaming through their windows and a few hours of sleep beneath their belts, Aelita was quickly introduced to the art of keeping busy on a plane. Breaking out a deck of cards, the gang worked their way through multiple rounds of go fish, war, rummy, black jack, a tag-team version of solitaire, and a twenty minute attempt to learn poker that never really worked out. Odd's coloring books surfaced next, and what began as doodling soon turned into a full blown coloring war, with Odd handing out the finished products to the flight attendants and two passengers just trying to find the restroom.

When Odd's bag of tricks began to lose its interest Aelita's pink laptop emerged, packed last minute at Yumi's urging. Popping in a move, the gang only spent about twenty minutes watching it before they realized they noticed a list of scenes at the side of the window, and the fact that they could re-name them. Eventually the movie fell solely into the hands of the boys, who threw themselves into analyzing the physics of the action flick ("I could do that" "I could do it better"). The girls, meanwhile, broke out their make-up bags, and began a whirlwind session of who can make the other look more ridiculous.

Meanwhile Odd's camera continued to flash, documenting it all.

To Aelita's surprise, what seemed like things that only passed a few minutes actually carried the gang through the rest of the flight, and before she knew it she realized her view through the windows was beginning to show civilization growing closer and closer. When she pointed this out excitedly to her friends, Odd immediately grabbed her hand and tugged her over into an empty window seat, the pair plastering themselves to the glass to watch the landing.

"Is this what it's like having children?" Ulrich grumbled from his seat, eyeing the piles of cards and coloring books Odd had left behind.

"It's what it's like having Odd as a child," Yumi responded brightly before grabbing a clump of Ulrich's hair and tying it up neatly with a ribbon. Ulrich simply sighed.

Landing in Australia was much different for Aelita, as this time around the sun was up and she could see all of the buildings and the airport illuminated around them. Questions poured from her as she pointed out every detail she could see, and Odd did his best to keep up with his answers. Across the aisle Yumi and Ulrich attempted to tidy up after their messy friend.

And as they tucked away movies and crayons, they watched Odd and Aelita share their excitement as they passed through a cloud on their way to the ground. At Ulrich's knowing look Yumi could only smile as she quickly snapped a picture of the pair, the message in the twist of her lips clear.

_They'll figure it out eventually._


	5. The Della Robbia Flap Jack Special

**Just look at me go. Two days, two updates. It's like magic. The gang finally arrives for summer, and Jeremy and William finally lose their patience.**

**Dedicated to: Rena, for making me finish. You're awesome. And DayDreamer9, for being the most amazing reviewer ever.**

* * *

><p>The landing in Australia was identical to the gang's previous landing for most of the group, although Aelita seemed incapable of finding anything to do with flying as anything but completely new and exciting every single time. Disembarking followed the same wait-and-see procedure, and once they entered the airport terminal they once again found themselves standing around, looking bemused as they waited for Aelita to get her fill of seeing something so new and different. As soon as they had their bearings Yumi lead the charge in search of a restroom where they could freshen up and change after their flight.<p>

Like the fight from Paris to London, the flight that took them to New Zealand was short, little over an hour, and Aelita spent all of it watching the green and blue world below her as it soared past. Her gaze continued to roam all around as they passed through the latest of airports, although it wasn't until she stepped outside for the first time in almost a entire day that she was finally brought to a standstill.

"Wow," she breathed. Her friends laughed.

"Impressed?" Ulrich asked. Aelita nodded mutely. Odd grinned.

"And this is just the bus circle," he said, motioning to the rows of busses idling outside of the airport. "Wait until you see the city!"

After ten minutes of aimlessly wandering the gang found their bus, just as the cart bearing their luggage arrived. Aelita motioned to her suitcase curiously, but Yumi assured her that it wouldn't be going anywhere without them as they began piling onto the bus. While Odd handed over their tickets Aelita quickly found herself a window seat in preparation for her first real look at a city outside of Kadic. Ulrich and Yumi settled themselves into the seats across the aisle, making themselves comfortable on a shared pillow while Odd, the only one able to match Aelita's still strong enthusiasm, joined the pink haired girl.

As Ulrich and Yumi slipped back into dreamland the bus began its trek into the city. Instantly Odd transformed into Aelita's tour guide, noticing rather quickly that her wonder had left her rather speechless. With wide eyes and rapt attention, she took in every fact Odd said and every detail she saw. As her first official summer vacation, Aelita felt that she just couldn't afford to let even a single moment slip away, lest she loose the precious memory forever.

Odd, it seemed, understood her feelings, and made sure to point out everything Aelita even looked like she might be interested in. By the time they reached the bus stop Aelita was sure there was nothing more she could possibly learn about New Zealand.

She was proved wrong as they prodded awake their sleeping friends, gathered their bags, and jostled over to the cab that was patiently waiting for the "Della Robbia party" to arrive. Passing now through even smaller towns, about which Odd's knowledge was less complete, her curiosity threatened to simply overflow. Amused by the young girl's appreciation of his home, the group's second cab driver of the trip (this one in much higher spirits than the first) happily answered the dozens of questions his pink haired passenger sent his way.

Eventually the gang found themselves at a little ferry port, which, even without having seen it before in their lives, they could recognize easily from Odd's story.

"I can see why you mom was hesitant," Yumi murmured as she eyed the ferry waiting for them.

"What?" Odd asked. The ferry bobbed cheerfully in the water, its salt-stained hull swaying from side to side. From under the boat's awning, patched in multiple places with various tapes and fabrics, the ferry Capitan waved at the group of teens.

"It is leaning to one side?" Ulrich asked after a moment. He glanced at Odd. "It it supposed to do that?" Odd waved him off.

"Last one there!" he cried, leaving the threat hanging as he gathered his luggage and made an awkward dash for the boat. Ulrich, reacting more on instinct than thought, hurried after him. Yumi sighed.

"One day they'll grow up." She paused when Odd tripped over the strap of his bag, Kiwi barking. Shouting in triumph, Ulrich shot ahead of his friend, only to trip himself three steps later. "Or not. I could just be making an assumption."

Giggling, Aelita and Yumi gathered their bags and followed the boys at a more leisurely pace. They ended up beating the boys the boat, their slowed speed keeping them from getting tangled in their luggage.

Once loaded on the boat the Captain, who seemed completely unfazed by the raucous of his passengers (most likely a side effect of extensive Della Robbia exposure), set off on an unhurried course, heading for an group of islands in the distance. Bouncing up to the front of the boat, Aelita leaned out over the railing, narrowing her eyes against the sea-spray.

"Odd, which one's yours?" she asked as the blonde appeared at her shoulder.

"See the one kind of left from the middle? The sloped one?" Aelita tilted her head. She spotted the island—it was smaller than some of the others, with a rocky outcropping on one side and a wide, white sandy beach on the other. She nodded. "That's Isle Della Robbia," Odd said, grinning.

"Hmm." Aelita eyed the island critically. She felt her stomach do a little flip, Mr. Ishiyama's playful joking coming to mind when she noticed something conspicuously missing. "Where's your house?" Odd, correctly guessing the source of her worry, laughed.

"Don't worry," he said, "it's around the other side. My dad wanted it to seem more private, so he built it looking out on the ocean instead of towards the shore."

"Oh," Aelita breathed. The pair fell silent after that, Aelita content to watch as the island she'd been picturing for days rose up, lush and magnificent before her.

As they drew in close a small dock materialized at the edge of the island, the Captain easily pulling the ferry alongside it. Waving their thanks, the group gathered their things and, sharing looks of excitement, took their first steps onto the island they would be calling home for the summer. While Odd trotted off along the dock, the other three could only stand and stare. Odd was half way to the end of the dock before he realized he was making the journey alone.

"Guys?" he said, turning to look at his friends.

"Hmm?" someone hummed. No one looked his way, all of their gazes busy taking in the mini-jungle before them. Sighing, Odd motioned towards land.

"You guys have all summer to stare at it," he told them. "Why not wait until we're not lugging all of our stuff around with us?"

To three people who'd just spent the equivalent of a day traveling, this seemed like a brilliant idea. Gathering their things, they hurried after the blonde as he led the way down a small dirt path trailing away from the dock. He didn't go far before he'd reached a small shed set a little back into the trees. After taking a moment to drop his bags and let Kiwi out of his bag, Odd pulled open the doors of the shed to reveal an electric cart.

"Your chariot awaits," he joked as he climbed into the cart's single bench seat, settling in behind the steering wheel, grinning when a turn of the key brought it to life.

"Your dad's a genius," Ulrich announced as he lugged his bags into the cart's small bed. Jumping down, Odd helped load his own bags and then the girls' before retaking the driver's seat. The girls quickly piled in next to him, and before he knew it Ulrich was left staring at a cart who's seat was full.

"What about me?" he asked, blinking his confusion. While the girls laughed Odd gave the pile of luggage a pointed look. Ulrich scowled. "Try again."

Five minutes and an unsuccessful debate later, and Ulrich was sitting perched among the luggage, Kiwi bouncing happily in his lap.

"Just remember," he told the still snickering blonde, "you're sharing a room with me next year."

"You're getting to enjoy the fresh air," Yumi joked, leaning back to smile at the brunet. He frowned at her. She pecked his cheek with a kiss.

"You must have the best view," Aelita said, her own gaze constantly swiveling as she tried to take in everything all at once. "Odd, this place is amazing!"

"It gets better," he assured her. "Look to your left." Blinking curiously, Aelita did as she was told just as the cart emerged from between the trees.

"Look!" she gasped, pointing. "A river!" Odd grinned as Aelita gaped at the ribbon of crystal clear blue.

"My dad made it," he explained, as they followed alongside the gently flowing water. "It's an extension of our pool that circles the whole island. You can get in it behind our house and float all the way back again. It takes like, two hours, but you get to see all the really cool stuff on the island."

"That's really cool," Ulrich said, leaning back so he could join the conversation.

"Was that part of your mom's painting?" Yumi asked. Odd shook his head.

"We thought he was just giving us kids something awesome to play in. It took us years before we figured out that mom and dad could just dump us and some inner-tubes in the river and get the house free to themselves for a few hours. He won't admit it, but we're pretty sure that's why dad built it." Ulrich nodded knowingly.

"If I were him, I'd build something that would drag you away from my house too."

Pulling a face, Odd returned his attention to driving as the path they were following opened up onto a stretch of beach.

"And there it is," he announced, pointing up ahead. He was pleased to note his passengers all staring with an appropriate level of amazement. "Look real enough for you?" he teased.

"Yes," Yumi said. "It looks real. Whether it's yours or not is what I'm worried about."

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked. "Do you really think I would pull up in front of some random house and try to trick you into going inside?"

"Yes Odd," Yumi said. "I do. And I think you're trying to do it now. There's no way your parents would let four teenagers spend six weeks alone in a house like this."

"My parent's know they can trust us not to burn it down."

"I'd ask how," Ulrich said, "but with kids like you I'm sure your dad figured out a way to fireproof…everything."

"Psh," was Odd's noncommittal response, causing his friends to exchange unsure looks as they drew up to the front of the house.

The house was made entirely of wood, negating Ulrich's theory of fireproofing. A wide porch wrapped around the building, which stretched up to a height of what looked to be three whole stories, the top two of which were fronted with a massive window.

"Oh wow," Aelita gasped. She'd never seen such a house on the streets of Kadic, the style both alien and yet well suited to the tropics it was nestled into.

"Come on you guys," Odd said, as he began unloading their bags. "We're almost there."

Gathering around to help, the gang collecting everything together, not wanting to make a second trip, and headed for the windowed double doors that would lead them into the house. Odd fumbled briefly with his keys, having not prepared them before filling his arms with bags, but eventually they gained entrance into the house.

"Dump your things anywhere," he said, following his own advice as he dropped his bags just inside the door. Kicking them aside just enough to make room for the door to close, he then grabbed up his backpack and pointed to the wide set of spirals stairs that dominated the end of the entryway. "I'm going to go change," he said, motioning Ulrich to join him. "I'll let you girls have the bathroom under the stairs."

_Under the stairs?_ Aelita mouthed as the boys vanished up into the second story. As Yumi shrugged they gathered their own bags and began to circle the staircase. Not far past the first step they found a door that, when opened, lead into a surprisingly spacious circular bathroom.

"Weird," Yumi decided as they piled inside. Aelita nodded as she set her duffle on the toilet, which had been designed to follow the curve of the wall. They struggled briefly in finding space to both change, as there were no corners to claim, but eventually Yumi just climbed into the rounded shower stall and together they clambered hastily into their PJs.

"About time," Ulrich huffed once the girls emerged back into the house. Yumi and Aelita pulled faces at the brunet as they wandered into the living room he and Odd had seemingly transformed while the girls changed. A large bed had been pulled out of the couch nestled under the window, which the boys had helpfully smothered in a wild assortment of pillows and blankets.

"I like this plan," Yumi announced, climbing easily into the bed and preparing a nest for herself. She then paused, frowning, before pulling Ulrich in next to her and snuggling up to sleep. Grinning his pleasure at Yumi's plan, Ulrich quickly did the same. Rolling his eyes, Odd drew the curtains as he and Aelita crawled into the bed as well.

"Good night, Princess," Odd whispered. Aelita, who until this point was preparing for bed based solely on the fact that she'd been copying the others, was suddenly struck by how tired she was. Nestling into her pillow, she allowed her eyes to slip shut, whispering her own 'good night' as she quickly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Warm sunlight gently woke Aelita from what felt like the most wonderful night's sleep she'd ever experience. Sighing through her nose, she refused to open her eyes as consciousness filtered back to her. Shifting under her blankets, she stretched her arms out, humming softly as her joints responded with satisfying pops.<p>

As she found herself ever more awake, Aelita finally sat up, letting her blankets pool at her waist as she scrubbed sleepily at one eye. With another soft sigh, she looked around, taking in the room she'd been too tired to properly survey the night before. A couple puffy armchairs lined one side the room, another comfy looking couch against the opposite wall. But it wasn't these that drew Aelita's immediate attention.

It was her bedmates, and the person who was missing. Aelita could feel the heat rising in her cheeks as she spotted Yumi and Ulrich cuddling contentedly beside her. Quickly shuffling out of the bed, Aelita grabbed a light blanket to throw over her shoulders as she eyed the room's possible exits. To her left elegant French doors stood open, leading the way into the entryway, while across from her she could make out a dining table through the opening in the wall.

As she turned her attention on the dining room, Aelita realized she could make out the faint smells of someone cooking and so, deciding breakfast was a better alternative to hanging out with the two lovebirds still in bed, she made her way towards the source of what would hopefully be something yummy to eat.

Stepping up to the dining table, Aelita noticed three things: the pair of doors leading to the backyard on her right, the opening leading past the staircase and to the front door on the left, and the boy currently dancing with a spatula in the kitchen in front of her.

"Good morning?" she said, padding her way up to the breakfast bar between herself and the grooving blonde.

"Morning Princess," he greeted, pausing mid-dance move to offer Aelita an enthusiastic bow. "You ready for the best breakfast you'll ever have?"

"…Yes?" Aelita tried. She blinked as Odd twirled past her to the stove, trying to acclimate as she moved from friends who were still asleep to a friend who was anything but.

"I call this one the Della Robbia Flap Jack Special," Odd announced as he grabbed the handle of the frying pan sitting on the stove top. Apparently unaware of the spatula in his hand, Odd gave the pan itself a flick, sending the pancake inside it flipping into the air. Aelita clapped as Odd, who'd miss-judged his toss, scrambled backwards and caught the pancake before it hit the floor.

"I hope all your other catches have been as successful," she teased as Odd added the pancake to the stack on the plate he'd suddenly procured.

"You know it," he said, winking as he set the pancakes down in front of Aelita. Grinning, she slipped onto one of the stools behind the counter, settling down just as syrup, a glass of juice, and a fork and knife appeared by her plate.

"Thank you," she said as she picked up the syrup bottle and began liberally dousing the fluffy disks.

"No need to thank," Odd assured her as he stepped around the counter with his own plate of pancakes, plopping onto the stool beside her. "By the end of the summer you'll be completely tired of my cooking." Aelita flashed Odd a surprised look over her glass of juice. Setting it down, she asked,

"Why would you say that?"

"Because the longer he cooks, the worse he gets."

Aelita giggled as Ulrich walked into the room, yawning widely.

"At least I get worse," Odd said, flicking a carefully aimed piece of pancake at Ulrich. "You, on the other hand, don't. You just _are_ a terrible cook."

"Psh." Ulrich opened his mouth, halfheartedly trying to catch the pancake bit. It bounced off his forehead and landed on the floor.

"You've been awake for two minutes," Yumi whined, joining her friends in the kitchen. "Can you behave for even that long?"

"Behave?" Ulrich asked as he headed for the oven. Pulling open the door, he fetched out two plates of pancakes. Aelita blinked at the sight in confusion, but Ulrich and Odd both seemed to be fitting into a well rehearsed routine.

"What does that mean?" Odd asked cheekily. Yumi scowled, snatching his syrup as she and Ulrich took the stools on Aelita's other side.

"So," Ulrich asked around a mouthful of pancake, "what's the plan for our first official day of vacation?"

"Cliff diving!"

Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at Odd.

"What does that mean?" Aelita asked, while Yumi shook her head.

"No."

"That's something you can save for you and your crazy sisters," Ulrich added. Sighing, Odd gave his breakfast a defeated look.

"Why don't we check in with Jeremy?" Aelita asked. "He wanted us to let him know we got here okay."

"You mean he wanted confirmation that the house was real," Ulrich amended.

"Why does everyone think I'm lying about having a house?" Odd asked.

"That sounds like a great idea, Aelita," Yumi said, ignoring the blonde. "Once we finish eating we can use that new webcam so we can all talk to him." Excited to talk to the one friend she hadn't seen in what felt like forever, Aelita hurried through her meal, Odd joking that she was simply inhaling his edible work of art, Ulrich adding that it was great practice for the rest of Odd's meals.

Once breakfast had vanished into bellies and the plates had "vanished" into the sink, Aelita's laptop was uncovered from the bag pile still sitting by the door. Setting it up at the dining table, the gang pulled over chairs and gathered around as Aelita logged online, bouncing as she clicked Jeremy's name.

When Jeremy's video window opened, the gang burst into a clutter of bright "Good morning!"s, causing Jeremy to pull back in surprise.

"Good evening," he said, grinning at the cluster of faces peering at him from his laptop screen. At his friend's looks of bafflement, Jeremy pointed his camera towards the window, showing a dark night sky, while someone shouted a helpful, "it's still night here."

"Who was that?" Ulrich asked, trying (and failing) to peer over Jeremy's shoulder. Scooting aside, Jeremy revealed William sprawled across the bed behind him, his nose pressed into a book.

"Hi William!" Aelita chirped, waving. William glanced up, sparing a wave for Jeremy's computer.

"Why is William in your room?" Odd asked. "Did you guys bond on the bus or something?"

"No," Jeremy said, rolling his eyes. "He's my roommate for the summer."

"Bummer," Ulrich said.

"I can hear you," William called.

"I know," Ulrich shot back.

"Boys," Yumi sighed. Aelita ignored the pair completely.

"What's college like?"

Jeremy gave Odd a flat look at the blonde wailed, covering his eyes and dropping theatrically from view.

"You know, talking about school won't kill you."

"Yes it will," Odd said, his voice floating up from the floor. "It'll kill my summer."

"It's pretty interesting so far," Jeremy said, ignoring Odd in favor of Aelita. "We haven't started classes yet, only been given room assignments."

"Sucky room assignments," William added.

"What?" Ulrich asked, "isn't Jeremy a good roommate?"

"He's not talking about the roommate thing," Jeremy said. As if on cue, Jeremy's sentence was followed by a loud bang. A muffled shout followed a moment later, sounding suspiciously like someone shouting "goal!"

"Sounds like you got some good neighbors," Yumi said. Ulrich frowned thoughtfully as another shout echoed from the hall.

"Is that…Theo?"

"And Timothy, yes." Jeremy sighed. "They're rooming together."

"Across the hall from us," William added.

"Fun," Yumi said. Jeremy nodded.

"Loads."

"It had better be," Odd said, reappearing. "Theo promised me he'd keep you from being boring all summer."

"Theo what?" Ulrich asked, while Jeremy sighed.

"I noticed."

"And it's not working the way you'd hoped," William added. "Instead of us being less boring, Theo's just being louder." Odd blinked his confusion.

"…I don't see how those contradict."

"Spell contradict," Ulrich said. Odd pulled a face.

"F-U-C—"

"Odd!" Jeremy barked, his expression scandalized as he glanced at a giggling Aelita.

"Sorry Jer," Odd said, placing his hands over Aelita's ears, the pink haired girl giggling louder. "I promise, no more naughty words for the rest of the summer." As Odd dropped his hands another bang sounded in the hall, and Timothy swore colorfully. "Or not." William sighed, while Jeremy let his head drop to his keyboard.

"I don't think I can handle an entire summer of this," he mumbled.

"I can try and ask them to cool it," Ulrich offered. Jeremy mumbled what sounded like a 'thank you' into his desk as another bang sounded.

Behind Jeremy, without saying anything, William set his book aside, climbed to his feet, and, while Jeremy continued to stare at his desk, walked across the room and out of sight. The gang shared a look while the sound of a door opening and shutting echoed from Aelita's speakers. A moment later and it was followed by two muffled thumps, twin yelps, and a door slamming shut. Jeremy looked up as William reentered the room, a soccer ball tucked under his arm.

"I talked to them," he said, setting the ball down and climbing back into bed. "They were really understanding." And with that, William returned to his book. Blinking at his roommate, Jeremy slowly turned back to his computer, a smile on his face.

"Well, I guess I'd better take advantage of the quiet while it lasts," he said. "Talk to you all tomorrow?"

"Yes," Aelita said quickly. She hadn't yet gotten to tell Jeremy all about her traveling adventures, and she was bursting at the seams. But she wasn't about to withhold from Jeremy his rest, so she would set her stories aside for another time.

"Talk to you then, Jer," Ulrich said, the others waving as Jeremy, with a wave and a yawn, shut down his webcam.

As his image vanished from the screen and Aelita closed her laptop the gang lapsed into silence.

"So," Ulrich eventually drawled. "Now what?" It was Odd who answered, a grin splitting his face.

"Now our summer officially begins."


	6. Challenge Accepted

**And we're halfway there! The gang's moved in, and Sissi's on a mission. I'm hoping to finish this puppy before July, let's see if we can do it, shall we?**

* * *

><p>"Good morning!" Emily chirped as her tray clattered into the space beside Jeremy. She was followed a moment later by a less than pleased looked Sissi.<p>

"Why do we have to be up so early?" she mumbled, frowning at her eggs as she spoke.

"It's only nine thirty," William said, glancing at Emily, who shrugged. Sissi sighed dramatically.

"Don't remind me."

As Sissi wallowed over her breakfast, Timothy and Theo appeared, both wielding massive bowls of brightly colored cereal.

"Good morning," Theo started to say, though the words died in his throat as he eyed the group's seating situation. Jeremy and William had picked for themselves a round table, circled by six plastic chairs. Emily and Sissi had taken over the two chairs to Jeremy's right, while William sat to the boy's left, the chairs on his other side still vacant.

The two soccer players shared only the quickest of looks before both boys lunged for the seat beside Sissi, the dark haired girl scowling and scooting her tray closer as two overflowing bowls jostled into her personal space. Eventually, with a shout of triumph, Theo claimed the chair, leaving Timothy to gaze forlornly at the still open seat beside William.

"You're causing people to stare," Sissi hissed, as she tried to hide behind her hand. "Just sit down, would you?" Timothy fixed William with an unsure look. William smiled brightly in return. Although he looked less than convinced, Timothy lowered himself into the seat, quickly scooting it closer to his roommate, only for Theo to try and shove him back. Sissi huffed her disapproval.

"_Boys_."

"So," Emily said, ignoring the antics to her right in favor of the only boys at the table who were behaving themselves, "did you get the class schedule?"

"We did," Jeremy said, as William held up an envelope that had been sitting on his tray.

"Are you excited?" Emily asked, as she pulled open her own envelope.

"So excited," Theo mumbled, eyeing his schedule before tossing it aside. "Like we don't know what we're going to be taking. It's just all the classes everyone has to take in university, right?"

"It doesn't make them any less interesting," Emily told him as she dumped a folded paper onto the table. Straightening it, she ran a finger down the sheet, her expression thoughtful. "Our first class is at ten," she said, tapping the paper. "Composition."

"Sounds…hard," Timothy said, pulling a face. Theo sighed.

"I feel like I've already failed, and I haven't even stepped into a classroom yet."

Rolling her eyes, Emily returned to examining the rest of her classes.

"What classes are you looking forward to?" she asked. Jeremy assumed she was directing the question to the entire table, so he was surprised when he realized Emily was looking at him.  
>"Uh, I haven't looked at the schedule," he said. Immediately Emily slid hers over, so they could both look at it. She leaned over, her hair falling over her shoulder as she pointed to one of the classes. Jeremy blinked in surprise as he caught a whiff of Emily's shampoo, something sweet and floral.<p>

"The introduction to history and culture class sounds fun," she said. Jeremy nodded mutely as he watched Emily's finger trail across the page. "Or statistics. That seems like something you'd be good at."

"Umm," Jeremy responded.

"I don't think there's anything on here Jeremy won't do well in," William said, having opened his own schedule. Emily laughed, pulling away from Jeremy as she tucked away her paper.

"Well then, I'll just have to make sure we study together." She grinned brightly at Jeremy, who tried to smile back. Judging by the look Sissi was giving him over the brunette's shoulder, he wasn't succeeding.

"You know, we should probably get going soon," William said, making a show of checking his phone for the time. "The classes start in twenty minutes, and we want to be sure we can find the classrooms. And, for those of us who actually want to be here—" he sent a withering look in the direction of the two people at the table currently spoon jousting, "we can actually get decent seats."

"Sounds like a plan," Emily chirped, neatly tucking away her things. Gathering her tray, she bounced up, her pointed look indicating she expected Sissi to do the same. As the raven haired diva huffed to her feet, Emily fixed the boys with an expectant look. William easily waved her off.

"You go on ahead," he told her. "Find us some seats. We'll make sure the idiots here don't break anything."

"Okay," Emily said, rolling her eyes at the sound of a spoon clattering to the floor. "See you guys soon!"

As the two girls vanished across the cafeteria, William turned his attention away from the two boys starting to flick cereal puffs at one another and towards his bespectacled roommate. Jeremy still looked flustered as he hastily gathered his things together.

"Wow, Jeremy," William said, raising an eyebrow as Jeremy fumbled with his fork for a moment, before seeming to realize that was one tool he wasn't going to need for class.

"What?" Jeremy asked. When he noticed William's gaze on the utensil in his hand, Jeremy quickly returned the fork to his plate.

"You've got it bad," Theo said, before ducking to avoid a corn puff. At Jeremy's baffled look, Timothy added,

"For Emily."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jeremy sighed, only to catch William looking at him, eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, deciding to let the matter drop for now. After all, who was he to deny his friend his denial?

"Are we ready to go?" Jeremy asked, ruffled by his friends' prodding.

"Sure," Theo said, as he flicked a puff. It missed Timothy, bouncing off the side of William's head, who sighed. Taking that as their cue, both boys scrambled to grab their things and then bolted, a faint 'it's not my fault!' trailing after Timothy as they fled. Shaking his head, William picked up his tray in one hand, his bag in the other.

"Ready?" Jeremy asked again. William gave him a look that seemed to ask 'ready for class, or for a summer with _them_?' Jeremy shrugged one shoulder. William sighed.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

* * *

><p>"Do we really have to carry all of this upstairs?" Ulrich asked, struggling to balance all of his bags in his arms. "Can't we just live in the living room all summer?"<p>

"No," the girls chorused, Yumi nudging the brunet from behind when he stopped.

"Come on Ulrich," Odd cheered, "you're almost there!" With loud sounds of disgruntlement every step of the way, Ulrich finished climbing Odd's spiraling staircase, spilling out gratefully on to the second floor landing.

"Finally," he sighed, as Yumi and Aelita shoved past him, letting their bags tumble out of their arms.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Odd asked. He received three scowls in return. Ignoring them completely, he waved his arm, motioning to the hall splitting off in either direction as he said, "Now let's go find your rooms. This one's mine," he added, shoving open the door across the hall, which was covered in paint splatters and posters. His friends were able to catch a glimpse of walls covered in paintings as Odd tossed his stuff inside, and then he was directing their collective attention down the hall.

The second floor of the house was arranged in a way that it's five bedrooms and two bathrooms circled the main staircase, three of the rooms along the back side of the house and the bathrooms at either end of the hall. The two rooms facing the front of the house were built like continuations of the landing, framing an opening that overlooked the entryway below. One of the openings leading into one of these bedrooms was covered with a pair of white sheer curtains, neatly hung and tied off with simple yellow ribbon.

"This is Adele's room," Odd said, motioning Yumi through the curtained doorway. "She's all into that Feng Shui thing, so I thought you might like it."

"Thanks Odd," Yumi said, setting her bags down as she surveyed the room. It was neat and simple, all symmetry and clean lines. The bed was in the center of the back wall, done in white and pale yellow and framed by two side tables, each with a lamp, with a large floral painting hanging above. A small desk was nestled in one corner, of-set by a dresser in the other. The wall that faced the front of the house was all window, allowing a beautiful view of the beach below.

Along the side of the room that was only railing, Adele had hung more of the sheer curtains, gathered and tied with ribbon at evenly spaced intervals. As Yumi looked out across the railing, she could see Odd escorting Aelita into the room across the way.

"This is Elizabeth's room," he said, motioning broadly. "What do you think?"

"It's…different," Aelita said, glancing over to Adele's room and then back.

Unlike her sister, Elizabeth seemed to have gone for a more dramatic look, everything in her room done in shades of burgundy and purple. Her bed was a huge four-poster, hung with heavy, tasseled draperies. More wine colored drapes hung haphazardly along her open wall and over the room's large window, and all of her furniture was cluttered with all kind of pictures and personal possessions—quite a bit of which seemed to be makeup and accessories.

"She can be a bit much," Odd said as Aelita eyed the girl's vanity, whose surface was almost buried, the mirror plastered with photographs.

"I think it's wonderful," Aelita countered. Depositing her bags by the bed, she looked just about to dive into exploring all of Elizabeth's knickknacks when Ulrich's plaintive voice drew both her and Odd's attentions.

"What about me?"

"You get to sleep on the couch," Odd told him cheerfully. When Ulrich's only response was to scowl, Odd sighed. "You get Louise's room." Odd led the way across the hall and to the room adjacent to Yumi's. The door was simple wood, and covered in postcards from all around the world. "She's a bit of a traveler," Odd explained as he opened the door, motioning his friend in.

"You're kidding, right?" Ulrich asked as he stepped inside. Odd blinked his confusion as he and the girls joined the brunet.

"No," he said. "Why?"

The room was as much an expression of the girl who inhabited it as any of the others had been. Instead of Elizabeth's clutter or Adele's tidiness, this room was full of Louise's toys—a surfboard was propped in one corner, beside a bag overflowing with climbing equipment. A deconstructed tent was half stuffed behind the desk, and all manner of hiking equipment littered the floor to one side. A single dresser proudly displayed all of Louise's many souvenirs, while the wall all around was wallpapered with photos from all of the places the girl had been.

But it was none of these things that had Ulrich frowning at Odd. It was one piece of furniture in particular.

Or rather, the lack of a certain piece of furniture.

"Why don't I get a room with a bed?"

"What do you mean?" Odd asked. At Ulrich's look, he motioned to the corner of the room, where Louise's idea of a bed hung—a hammock, stuffed full of bedding and pillows.

"No."

"Come on, Ulrich. It's this or the twin's room. And before you decide that's any better, they sleep in some weird bunk thing they made themselves." Ulrich seemed less than convinced.

"Why don't you sleep in here? I can sleep in your bed." As soon as the words were out of his mouth Ulrich paused, looking thoughtful. "Actually, I'll sleep on the couch." Rolling his eyes, Odd snatched up Ulrich's bags, depositing them under the hammock.

"Trust me," he said. "Just try sleeping in it once, okay? If you don't like it, you can use the sofa bed for the summer."

"Fine," Ulrich sighed, agreeing more out of not wanting to move his bags again than from actually being okay with Odd's compromise.

"And now that that's all settled," Odd said, clapping his hands together, "we can begin the real fun stuff!"

"And what would that be?" Yumi asked. Odd's response was to vanish from the room, the sound of his own bedroom door opening and shutting following him out. Blinking, the trio he'd left behind shared a look as a few thumping sounds echoed from next door. A minute later and Odd could be heard bursting back into the hall.

"This!"

Planting his hands on his hips, Odd stood tall, proudly displaying his purple and yellow bathing suit, a matching towel tied around his neck. While Ulrich let his head fall into his hand Yumi nodded appreciatively.

"Odd?" she said, "I like the way you think."

* * *

><p>"Cannonball!"<p>

"Odd, watch it!" Ulrich shouted, as Odd's wave crashed over him. Aelita laughed brightly, splashing the blonde as he surfaced. Grinning, Odd made to lunge playfully at Aelita, only to be stopped short by Ulrich hurling himself onto the blonde's shoulders. While the pair flailed about attempting to drown one another, Aelita paddled across the pool.

Having only ever seen one other pool before, at the recreation center near Kadic, Aelita had been blown away by the Della Robbia interpretation of water recreation. Unlike the rec pool, which had been perfectly rectangular, Odd's pool was a flowing, natural shape, whose floor flowed away from the edges at a gradual angle, creating a sort of beach effect on one side. The opposite side was lined with a rocky path, rising upwards towards a raised waterfall that tumbled back into the pool. It was from here where Odd had jumped, and away from which Yumi was currently floating.

Resting her arms on the side of Yumi's float, Aelita grinned up at the older girl. Pushing up her sunglasses, Yumi tilted her head to look down at the pink haired girl.

"Yes?" she asked, noticing the mischievous look in Aelita's eyes.

"You should come join us."

Yumi looked at Aelita, and then turned to the boys. She quirked an eyebrow as Odd grabbed Ulrich from behind, shouting some kind of war cry as he dunked them both underwater.

"Tempting," she said slowly, "But I think I'll pass." Aelita laughed.

As the girls drifted into shallow water Aelita perched herself on the pool bottom, wrapping her arms around her knees as he continued to watch the boys play. Noticing where Aelita's gaze was directed, Yumi climbed out of her float, letting it drift away as she joined her friend.

"Pretty crazy, isn't it?" she asked, leaning back on her hands. At Aelita's questioning look, Yumi added, "Being here on this island, all of us together."

"Not all of us," Aelita said, resting her cheek on her knee.

"Something tells me Jeremy's doing just fine at his college thing."

"Do you think he misses us?"

"I'm sure he does," Yumi said, smiling when she caught Aelita's unsure look. "But he's got William and Theo to keep him company." Aelita smiled at the reminder of Odd's attempt to spice up Jeremy's summer.

"And do you know who else was planning on going on the summer trip?" Aelita asked, the mischievous glint back in her eye. Yumi shook her head, causing Aelita to grin. "Emily."

Immediately a smile broke out across Yumi's face.

"Perfect."

"What's perfect?" Aelita laughed, shoving at her friend as Odd splashed down into the spot next to her, Ulrich drifting on his back nearby.

"Emily's going to be at the study thing Jeremy's doing," Yumi explained. Eyeing Ulrich, she reached out with her foot, using it to nudge him in a different direction. Tilting his head back to see his girlfriend, Ulrich stuck out his tongue. Yumi nudged him further away.

"It's about time the two of them got stuck in a room together," Odd said. He tried to push Ulrich with his foot as well, but the brunet just latched onto his ankle. "Jeremy's only been dancing around his feelings for her all semester."

"Maybe he'll take advantage of this opportunity and actually do something about it."

Three pairs of eye met Ulrich's. For a moment everyone was silent.

"You're right," Ulrich sighed. "He won't do it."

"Maybe he will," Odd said, his expression suddenly thoughtful. "I think I have an idea." His friends gasped, Aelita leaning away in shock.

"Catch it, quick!" Ulrich shouted. Waving his friends off, Odd jumped to his feet, scrambling over to where they'd left their things draped across the deck chairs. Rummaging for a moment, Odd produced his cell phone.

"Jeremy might not take the plunge on his own," he said, "but I have men on the inside who can help."

"He's half a world away from us," Ulrich said, "and Jer still can't escape Odd's madness." The girls laughed while Odd rapid-fire texted. Once finished, he tossed the phone aside and splashed gracelessly back into the pool.

"It's all taken care of," he announced. "You may now return to your regularly scheduled activities."

Ulrich took this as his cue. Launching himself at his friend, he hurled them both back into the pool to resume their death match. As they watched Ulrich attempt to scale the waterfall wall out and Odd try to pry him back off, the girls resumed their own conversation.

"So, who do you think he texted?" Aelita asked.

"I don't think it was Theo. Even Odd has to know that he's the last person to choose to help you match-make."

"William maybe?" Aelita tried. The girls shared a look, and then shook their heads.

"I don't know," Yumi sighed. "But whoever it is, I hope they can help."

* * *

><p>"You know, you should silence your phone in class," Emily whispered as Sissi reached into her bag.<p>

"It is silenced," she whispered back. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Vibrate isn't silent." Sissi waved her away, as the professor's attention shifted to their side of the room. Emily returned diligently to her notes while Sissi checked her message under the table. Her eyes widened as he read the message, her gaze darting first to Emily and then to the blonde sitting with the rest of the boys a few seats away.

As she considered the possibility suddenly laid out before her, a small smile crept across her lips. With one more glance in her friend's direction, she quickly typed a response to Odd's text.

"_Challenge accepted."_


	7. Sandcastle!

**Yay updates! Keeping this short because Rena's in a hurry. Ulrich and Yumi try to be cute. Odd tries to be a pest. Enjoy~**

* * *

><p>Yumi trailed her fingers through the water, a lazy smile on her lips. Beside her, Ulrich pawed at the water, drifting up beside her. Opening one eye, Yumi grinned playfully at the brunet. He grinned back, bumping his raft against hers. Silently, Yumi held her hand out to Ulrich. Settling into her float, Ulrich twined his fingers with hers.<p>

They were floating together along Odd's island traveling river, in an attempt to avoid the adventure happy duo that was Aelita and Odd. While the pair had spent the morning planning all of the fun and exciting things they wanted to do that day—explore the woods, climb the cliffs, swim around the island—their friends had planned their escape. After sharing an island for almost two weeks with the wild couple, they were desperate for some calm, relaxing alone time.

It seemed to them that making for the river had been just the right choice. After assuring themselves that Odd and Aelita weren't going to come paddling around the next bend, the pair had finally been able to relax, and for a few hours had simply floated together, quiet and content.

At this point in their river-guided island tour, they found themselves deep within a cavern, through which the little river ran. Random opening in the rock above allowed in light without letting the sun shine directly on the drifters, giving the cavern a cool, diffused glow. The river deepened and widened out here, and was branched with lots of natural little offshoots and tide pools.

"This was a good idea," Yumi sighed appreciatively as she passed close to one of the tide-pools. Leaning over, she smiled at the various little fish and other sea life that looked back at her.

"I'm glad I thought of it," Ulrich said. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"If memory serves," she mumbled, leaning towards her boyfriend, "this was my idea." Ulrich closed the small space between them.

"Maybe you're right," he said, as he pressed his shoulder to hers.

"Maybe," Yumi said playfully. Ulrich smiled.

"Yeah. But _this_ is my idea."

Before she could ask what 'this' was, Ulrich shifted his weight, rolling off the side of his raft and into the water. Yumi was able to get out a single startled yelp before the boy's grip on her hand had her rolling in with him.

"Ulrich!" she sputtered as the pair surfaced, Ulrich's fingers still laced with hers.

"Yes?" the brunet asked, floating in front of her. Yumi scowled at his smile.

"Is there a reason you decided I didn't need to be on a float anymore?" she asked.

"Of course there is," Ulrich said, all mock seriousness as he pulled Yumi close. "If we're both on floats, we can't get close."

"Is that so?" Yumi said, smiling playfully. Ulrich tucked her against his chest.

"And we just can't have that."

"Oh no," Yumi agreed, leaning in, draping her arms across Ulrich's shoulders. "We can't have that at all." His smile soft, Ulrich dipped his head. They kicked gently, keeping themselves afloat. Yumi's eyes slid shut as Ulrich's breath ghosted her lips, and she kicked just a little harder, lifting up, reaching to meet him—

"Geronimo!"

The pair had just enough time to realize that their moment had been effectively ruined before a second voice shouted, an excited 'whee!' announcing the arrival of their second interloper moments before twin splashes rang out through the cavern. Thoroughly doused by the resulting mini-wave, Ulrich and Yumi exchanged un-amused looks.

"Whoohoo!" Odd cheered as he broke the surface, followed a moment later by a head of pink hair bobbing into view.

"That was so much fun!" Aelita squealed as she paddled over to her companion. "Can we go again?"

"Of course we—oh, hey guys!"

Ulrich and Yumi cringed at the realization they'd been spotted.

"Hey Odd," the deadpanned.

"We were wondering where you guys went," Odd said cheerfully.

"Odd took me cave diving!" Aelita said, grinning brightly. "Now we're going to go explore the cliffs—Odd said really big seabirds build nests up there!"

"Really," Ulrich said, doing his best to look interested in Aelita's excitement.

"If you're supposed to be going to the cliffs, then what are you doing here?" Yumi asked. Aelita seemed to not notice the girl's annoyance while Odd, smirk in place, simply looked like he didn't care. Pointing to the whole in the cavern ceiling, maybe ten feet above them, he said,

"Me and my sisters would play in here all the time. I thought Aelita would like to see the fun entrance."

"That's great," Ulrich said, keeping his attention focused on Aelita. He didn't think he could fake as much enthusiasm for his blonde friend.

"Do you want to come with us?" Aelita asked, all excitement and innocence.

"Yeah," Odd added, tossing an arm around Aelita's shoulders. "You should totally come!"

While Yumi and Ulrich had been able to spare smiles for Aelita, they now turned pointed frowns in Odd's direction.

"As much fun as that sounds," Ulrich began,

"We'll have to pass," Yumi finished. "Maybe next time."

"Okay," Aelita chirped. As she began paddling for the water's edge, Ulrich fixed Odd with a scowl.

_What?_ Odd mouthed. Behind him, Ulrich could hear Yumi climbing back into her float and starting to paddle off.

_Thanks for nothing,_ Ulrich mouthed back. With that he turned as started paddling after a retreating Yumi, quietly cursing Odd under his breath.

A little alone time with his girlfriend, he wondered as he swam. Was that really so much to ask?

* * *

><p>Sprawled out in the warm, white sand, Ulrich sighed his contentment. After the incident with Odd and the river, it had taken a few days for him and Yumi to scrape together another chance at some alone time together. But they had, as Aelita and Odd's late night movie fest had left the pair fast asleep on the pull-out couch—and left Ulrich and Yumi with a chance at a chaos free morning.<p>

As quickly and quietly as they could, the pair had pulled on bathing suits and gathered towels and, grinning from ear to ear, had snuck out the front door and down to the shore of a very inviting beach. Of course, they'd moved a little away from the house—they didn't want to be so close that Odd could sense their peace and quiet—and then they'd laid out their towels, propping up an umbrella they'd found on the porch, and promptly picked up where they'd left off a few days previous.

For two blissful hours they'd enjoyed the sand and surf all to themselves. After cuddling in the sun, they'd turned their attentions to more productive matters—building a giant sandcastle. Yumi had early on decided that she was fashioning her own dream house, the one she fully expected Ulrich to build for her with his bare hands one day.

She'd decided what every room would be as they built, cheerfully pointing out their one day chef style kitchen, the bathroom with a Jacuzzi-tub, nurseries for all twelve of their children (Ulrich had made an odd choking sound at this revelation, before discreetly sweeping away a tower of bedrooms), and the guestrooms where Odd and Aelita, and Jeremy and Emily would stay.

"If Odd's mysterious contact gets things between the two geniuses figured out," Ulrich observed, as Yumi decorated the window with a few small seashells.

"I'm sure they will," Yumi said. She eyed her work critically before leaning back on her hands, a content smile on her lips. "And even without outside help, it's only a matter of time before those two lovebirds get together."

"You think so?" Ulrich asked. Yumi nodded.

"We did, didn't we?" A small smile graced Ulrich's lips. Climbing to his knees, he moved around their elaborate sandcastle. Smiling in return, Yumi lay back as Ulrich crawled over top of her.

"And we didn't need any of Odd's matchmaking."

"Not one bit," Yumi agreed. Lifting her arms, she wrapped them around Ulrich's neck.

"So," Ulrich breathed, leaning down to nuzzle Yumi's neck. "What should we do now?"

"How about a swim?"

As Ulrich blinked his confusion, Yumi pressed off from his shoulders, scooting across the sand and out from under her boyfriend. With a mischievous look in her eyes, she climbed lithely to her feet, smiling over her shoulder as she made her way towards the water.

Still on his hands and knees in the sand, Ulrich watched her as she splashed into the ocean.

Sitting back on his haunches, he sighed as he watched Yumi sink down to her waist in the water. Turning around, she trailed one hand through the water, wiggling her fingers at Ulrich, inviting him to join her. A smirk tugging at his lips, Ulrich rolled onto his back, leaning on his hands as he watched Yumi. Lowering herself further into the water, she tugged tantalizingly at the tie to her bikini top.

And then a door slammed in the distance, and Yumi's expression fell.

Ulrich sighed.

Moment ruined.

Again.

"Sandcastle!" was the blonde's single battle cry, a moment before Yumi and Ulrich's sandy dream home disappeared in a yellow and purple blur. Somewhere nearby, Aelita splashed into the surf, shrieking her joy.

"Hi, Odd," Ulrich said, staring at his friend.

"Hey Ulrich!" Odd bounced up, brushing sand from his shorts. "How's the water?"

"Better on the other side of the island."

"Odd, come on!" Aelita shouted, waving for the blonde to join her. With a salute to Ulrich, Odd turned and dashed for the waves, doing a fantastic belly-flop into the too shallow water. Aelita giggled as the stunned blonde slowly sank out of view.

As Ulrich looked down morosely at his destroyed sand-home, Yumi dropped gracelessly into the space next to him.

"There goes our afternoon," she sighed. Ulrich nodded mutely, eyes still on the fallen castle. Raising an eyebrow, Yumi leaned forward, looking past him. "It's just a sandcastle, you know."

"It was our home," Ulrich countered. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Feeling some domestic pride?" she teased. She frowned when Ulrich's only response was to sigh.

"What?" he asked. "A man's home is a matter of pride!"

"And Odd violated your pride?" Yumi asked.

"You know it."

With another sigh, Yumi lay back on her towel. Finding her sunglasses, she pushed them on, assuming a tanning position while waving with one hand to the water where Odd and Aelita were splashing about.

"Go defend your honor, Ul."

The brunet didn't need any more urging. A splash sounded a moment later, and then Odd's panicked shouts filled the air, while Aelita happily cheered Ulrich on. Yumi sighed.

One day without Odd bursting in, she thought. Is that so much to ask for?

* * *

><p>The sun hung low in the sky, the sunset splashing bright pinks and brilliant golds across the sky. From their spot on the front porch the couple watched the natural light show with bright, wonder-filled eyes. Leaning against Ulrich, Yumi sighed happily.<p>

"Isn't it lovely?" she whispered, leaning her cheek on his shoulder. Ulrich hummed.

"It really is," he whispered back. It was a few moments before Yumi realized Ulrich's gaze wasn't on the distant sunset, but rather on her, his eyes warm. Smiling, Yumi swatted playfully at him.

"You're such a flirt," she mumbled. Ulrich rubbed his nails against his shirt.

"What can I say? I have style." Yumi snorted.

"I couldn't tell," she said. "Is it hiding behind that giant head of yours?"

Ulrich laughed, wrapping an arm around Yumi's shoulders and hugging her close. Laying his cheek against her hair, Ulrich sighed.

"We finally have some alone time," he whispered.

"About time," Yumi agreed. "That only took how long?"

"Too long," Ulrich said.

After the beach incident, the pair had resigned themselves to never getting another moment alone on the island, complaining good naturedly as they were tugged off on island wide games of hide-and-go-seek and pulled into ridiculous cooking competitions with Odd. More than once Odd and Ulrich had broken out into competing in various tests of manliness, and whenever she got the chance Aelita liked to drag Yumi off for girl bonding time.

While neither Yumi nor Ulrich disliked spending such time with their friends, they'd been highly disappointed at the realization that they were as close to having an island getaway style honeymoon as they would ever get and would have no chance of enjoying it fully.

Although it seemed that they might just get a little bit of that moment now.

"I'm glad we were able to come here," Yumi said. "Even if it's not exactly what we'd hoped for."

"Yeah," Ulrich sighed. "Nothing like a summer trapped on an island with the dastardly duo." Yumi laughed.

"It could be worse," she assured him. "We could have all had to go home for the summer."

"This is true," Ulrich agreed. His expression fell. "Or even worse," he said, "I could have been stuck here with _just_ Odd." Yumi gasped in mock horror, before dissolving into giggles.

"Now that would just be terrible," she said, trying to sound serious. Ulrich nodded solemnly.

"I think I would have to escape."

Yumi looked thoughtful, as she imagined Ulrich paddling away from the island on his mattress, Odd bouncing on the shore in the distance.

"Japan's not too far," she said. "You could join me there."

"Where there's no Odd to bother us," Ulrich agreed, pressing his lips to the top of Yumi's head.

"Hmm," Yumi agreed, tilting her head back to meet Ulrich's lips with hers. Locking lips with his girlfriend, Ulrich ran his fingers through her hair, the other hand wrapping around behind her. Slowly turning, he lowered her down, until she was laying on her back.

"Ooh," she breathed playfully, smiling against Ulrich's lips. "Someone's in a hurry."

"We have to move quickly," Ulrich agreed. "There's no telling when that blonde menace might return."

Yumi's response was her hands on the hem of Ulrich's shirt, tugging it purposefully upwards. Ulrich lifted his arms, allowing Yumi to pull the shirt over his head and toss it aside. While she worked, Ulrich's hands toyed with the hem of her shorts, pawing at the button and zipper. With Yumi's help, the shorts were quickly discarded, Yumi's tank following a moment later.

For a moment Ulrich could only stare at the beautiful woman below him. Laid out before her boyfriend in nothing but her black bikini, Yumi allowed a small, tantalizing smile to grace her lips.

"Are you just going to look?" she teased. "I thought we were hurrying."

"Oh, right."

Leaning down, Ulrich's lips found Yumi's pulse, nipping and sucking playfully. Yumi moaned softly, one hand tangling in the boy's hair while the other trailed down his back, fingering the hem of his swimsuit. As Ulrich's lips trailed along her jaw, his hand pulled teasingly at the edge of her top.

"Geeze, guys. Get a room."

Their gazes fell in tandem.

"You have got to be kidding me," Ulrich grumbled against Yumi's lips. She sighed, running her fingers through his hair before lighting pushing him away. They sat up just as Aelita and Odd dropped down on either side of the them, the later holding a massive plate of nachos.

"Hi, Odd," Ulrich deadpanned, while Yumi shrugged back into her top. "I thought you and Aelita were at the store."

"We were," Odd said, stuffing a nacho into his mouth. "We got back a little while ago."

"We didn't hear you come back," Yumi said, her expression flat.

"We came in the back!" Aelita announced, grinning brightly. "Odd said it would be easier to bring in the groceries that way."

"I'm sure that's why you snuck around the back," Ulrich said, scowling pointedly at Odd. The blonde looked unaffected by his gaze.

"Nacho?" he asked, offering the plate. Ulrich snatched the entire plate, hugging it protectively as he stuffed a handful of chips in his mouth. As he and Odd began a mini-wrestling match over the snack food, Yumi looked at Aelita and sighed.

"Did you and Odd have a good time?" she asked. Aelita nodded, all innocence as she delved into the story of she and Odd's mainland shopping adventure.

So convinced of Aelita's innocence was she that, as she listened, she missed the quick, conspiratorial look Odd and Aelita exchanged over her shoulder.

* * *

><p>Perched together on the blonde's desk, Odd and Aelita leaned against the window panes as they watched the couple down below. They were snuggled into one of the hammocks that littered Odd's vast backyard, a few of the torches that ringed the pool lit. Every now and then one of their heads would pop up, and they would look around suspiciously before cuddling back into the other's arms.<p>

"They're really cute together," Aelita observed.

"Yeah, I guess they make a good couple," Odd agreed. He grinned. "Yumi's the only girl who could kick Ulrich into shape when he decides to go on a brood, after all." Aelita laughed, flashing Odd a bright, green-eyed look.

"Do you want to go down and see what they're up to?" she asked, just as Ulrich's head popped up, scanning the yard for a moment before Yumi pulled him back down. Odd eyed the couple, and Aelita could see the emotions warning on his face. Harassing the couple had become one of the highlights of this trip for Odd, and yet he knew it was driving Ulrich and Yumi nuts.

Sighing, Odd leaned back on his hands, shaking his head.

"We can let them have one night in peace," he decided. He watched the couple for a moment, a smirk spreading across his face. "But we'll get them again." He winked at Aelita. "There's still half a summer left, after all."

Aelita grinned, also leaning back. Her shoulder brushed Odd's and, after a moment, she leaned in close.

"Okay," she said. "I guess we can let them have one night." Odd laughed.

"You're becoming quite the prankster, Princess."

"I have a good teacher," Aelita said. "Looks like Jeremy isn't the only one learning this summer." Aelita grinned, while Odd continued to laugh.

"I like the way you think, partner, " he said. Wrapping an arm around Aelita's shoulders, he continued, "Let's let the lovebirds have their night. I think you and me have some business to discuss." At Aelita's curious look, he asked, "Do you know anything about April first?"

* * *

><p>"What was that?" Ulrich's head popped up, peering over the edge of the hammock. Sighing, Yumi's hand landed atop his head, pulling him back down.<p>

"Calm down, Ulrich," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "They're not down here."

"How can you be sure?" Ulrich asked, trying to take another look. Rolling her eyes, Yumi tugged him close.

"Because I'm not blind." At Ulrich's confused look, she motioned towards the house with a tilt of her head. "Don't be obvious about it, but check out the window to Odd's room." After hesitating for a tactful moment, Ulrich performed an overly dramatic yawn-and-stretch, causing Yumi to shake her head. Directing his gaze towards the house, he spotted to figures illuminated by the faint light coming from Odd's room.

"They're watching us," he mumbled, quickly turning back to Yumi. "That's not a good sign."

"Sure it is," Yumi said, pressing herself close. "If they're watching us from up there, it means they can't sneak up on us down here." Ulrich considered this for a moment.

And then he captured Yumi's lips in a kiss. Yumi blinked for a moment, and then gladly returned the kiss. She gasped when they finally broke apart.

"I guess that means you believe me?" she asked, although she cut herself off with a moan as Ulrich's lips found her collar bone.

"Less talking, more making-out," Ulrich mumbled into her skin. A lazy smile spread across her face as Ulrich's kisses moved every southward. And then she grabbed his face in her hand, forcing him to meet her eyes, then her lips.

"Okay," she whispered when they pulled apart again. "More making-out. I can handle that."


	8. Group date?

**And chapter eight arrives! In this instalment Sissi plots and plots, while Em and Jer are cute. In other news, those of you were are reading and enjoying this fic should go check out RenaYumi's _Summer of the Traveling Princess._ It's completely adorable and halarious and if you review I can stop waiting for updates from her. I MEAN...it's cute! But seriously, if you like this fic, you'll like hers. And with that said, away with us~**

* * *

><p>"We're leaving in fifteen minutes, you know that right?" William asked as he ran a towel over his hair.<p>

"Of course I do." Jeremy, who was already dressed and ready to leave, didn't look up from his computer. "I just want to check in with my friends and see how they're doing."

"Just be quick," William advised. "You know how Sissi will get if she even thinks we're running late."

"Even though she'll take an extra fifteen minutes to do her hair."

William nodded as he began digging through their closet for something to wear. As he changed in the background, Jeremy logged into his online messenger. Scrolling down his short list of friends, he grinned when he noticed that one of them was at their computer. Right before he could click their name, however, a video chat opened on his screen.

"Good morning!" the four faces crammed into the window cheered, around their mouthfuls and fork-loads of omelet. Jeremy laughed at what had become his friends' standard evening greeting.

"Good evening," he said, settling into his seat. "How are you all? Surviving Odd okay?"

"Barely," Ulrich mumbled, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from the blonde.

"I'll have you know, I'm a great host."

"When you're minding your own business." Odd scowled.

"I'll show you my own business."

As the pair dropped from view Yumi and Aelita scooted into frame.

"Hi Jeremy!" Aelita chirped. She lifted her plate, showing Jeremy her half finished breakfast. "Look what Ulrich showed me how to make!"

"She's a regular master chef," Yumi joked.

"Wow Aelita," Jeremy said, grinning at his friend's enthusiasm. "You'll have to cook something for me when you get back." Aelita grinned, blushing under the praise of her friends.

"Jer, you look all dressed up," Yumi observed. "Going somewhere tonight?" Behind himself, Jeremy could hear William jumping into his jeans. Yumi and Aelita raised twin eyebrows when the boy bounced by in the background, toppling over a moment later. Jumping back up, William buckled his belt as he joined Jeremy by the computer.

"Sissi thinks we need to spend more time seeing the sights," he explained, leaning on Jeremy's shoulder as he spoke. "We're going to eat and see a movie.

"Group date?" Yumi teased.

"Yeah, Sissi and Theo really hit it off," Jeremy said, rolling his eyes. William laughed.

"Just some friends going out for the night," he said. He waited until Jeremy looked away, and then winked to the two girls. They quickly stifled excited giggles before Jeremy leaned his chin in his hand, eyes back on the computer screen.

"How about you guys?" he asked his friends, "any plans for the day?"

"You know it," Odd said, appearing between the two girls. "We're going to go scuba diving!"

"Really?" Jeremy said, glancing to Yumi for confirmation.

"So Odd thinks," she said. "What he keeps forgetting is he's going by himself."

"Nonsense," Odd said, waving a dismissive hand. "You know you all want to come with me."

"And be eaten by sharks?" Ulrich asked, also appearing. "I think not." Jeremy and William exchanged glances.

"Sharks?" William asked. Odd nodded.

"They come around the islands this time of year to breed. It's really cool—my dad takes us out to see it every year."

Silence followed Odd's words. Then—

"Odd. You are not taking Aelita anywhere near sharks," Jeremy said. He paused, and then added, "Or Yumi, for that matter." Over his shoulder, William nodded his agreement.

"What about me?" Ulrich asked.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Jeremy said. The thought of Ulrich alone with Odd and sharks didn't bother him nearly as much.

"And don't worry," William added, "I'll still be here to protect Yumi when you get eaten." Ulrich scowled, while Yumi rolled her eyes good naturedly.

Their conversation was then interrupted by someone pounding at their door.

"Hurry up you two!" called a distinctly familiar voice. "We have to leave in five minutes!"

"Is that Sissi?" Ulrich asked, pulling a face. William sighed. Leaning over to his bed, he grabbed a pillow and tossed it at the door.

"We're coming!" he shouted. Jeremy frowned.

"Yeah, that's Sissi," he said. "For some reason she's become obsessed with getting us all to spend time outside of class together."

"I, for one, could do with less Theo-and-Timothy bonding time," William grumbled. Jeremy nodded.

"Why don't you tell her you're busy?" Odd suggested. Both boys laughed.

"We have to exact same schedule," Jeremy started,

"And we live next door," William finished. "We have no chance of tricking her."

"Besides," Jeremy continued, "it's me and William. She knows we have no life."

"Good point," Odd said.

"Well, we'd better be going," Jeremy sighed, as the sound of Sissi banging on Theo and Timothy's door echoed into his dorm. "She'll be back here soon enough." William sighed as well.

"Off we go, to go stand in the hallway and wait ten more minutes while Sissi finished primping."

"Fun," Ulrich said, looking completely unsympathetic.

"Have a good night!" Aelita said, waving brightly to both boys. "Send us an email to let me know how it goes."

"I will," Jeremy assured both her and an expectant looking Yumi. As the sounds of Sissi's impatience floated down the hall, the boys finished saying goodbye.

"Here we go," William said, frowning at the door when Sissi's 'I won't tell you again!' sounded from the other side.

"I hope this isn't an indication of how the rest of the night's going to go," Jeremy said. Quirking an eyebrow, William laughed.

"Impatience and being rude, an indication of how a night run by Sissi is going to go? Impossible." Jeremy sighed.

"This is going to be a long night."

Emily was already waiting in the hall when the boys emerged, purse clutched before herself consciously. Noticing the boys she flashed them a small smile, twirling towards them and asking,

"How do I look?"

"Uh," Jeremy stuttered.

She wasn't wearing anything overly flashy: a simple blue skirt and white top, covered with a long cardigan. Her hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders—Jeremy assumed this was Sissi's doing—and for the first time the blonde could recall, she was wearing makeup. Not the kind of dramatic look Sissi would have gone for, but enough to bring out her eyes and her skin and suddenly make her look beautiful to Jeremy.

Normally William would have stepped in at this point to help his friend out, but he knew Sissi had helped Emily dress up for a very specific reason, and leaping to Jeremy's defense right now could jeopardize Sissi's carefully laid plans.

"You look lovely," Jeremy finally said, only to blush brightly at his word choice. Emily, as unused to the look as Jeremy, blushed right back, ducking her head sheepishly.

"Thank you. You don't look to bad yourself."

Jeremy, struggling to control his blush, tugged absently at his collar, using his other hand to push his glasses up his nose.

"Thank you," he told the carpeting below his feet. If he could have, William would have openly sighed at them both. Seeing them in tandem awkwardness, he could suddenly understand why Jeremy's friends were so desperate to get the pair together. Yumi and Ulrich were bullheaded enough for each other, Aelita and Odd were just as crazy as the other, and now they had Jeremy and Emily, the awkwardly bookish duo.

Sissi's dorm door flying open distracted William from his thoughts, getting the group's attention as Sissi stepped regally into the hall. She struck a pose, hand on her hip, to show off her choice of her outfit.

"What do you think?" she asked, giving what she must have assumed was a doe-eyed look to her gathered audience.

"Lovely," William said, with much less sincerity than Jeremy had given Emily. Sissi seemed not to notice, looking content with the compliment.

"Alright, let's go," she announced, before taking the lead in marching down the hallway. Exchanging eye-rolls, the boys and Emily followed after her as she traveled the short distance to the room of their final party members. Raising her fist, Sissi was about to pound on the door when it swung open, Theo and Timothy standing together in the doorway.

"We're rea—whoa," Theo said, taking a step back. He stared at Sissi for a moment, glanced back at Timothy, and then sighed. Timothy grinned as Theo fished into his pocket, pulling out a few bills and handing them to his teammate.

"Thank you," Timothy said, counting the money before pocketing it. The others watched the exchange in confusion.

"Okay, let's go," Timothy sighed, looked deflated as he skipped past Sissi and started down the hall, Timothy strutting proudly behind him.

"This is going to be a _really_ long night," William whispered, Jeremy and Emily simply nodding.

* * *

><p>Sissi pranced into the restaurant like she owned the place, her friends following at a slightly less pompous pace. Spotting the host, Sissi skipped right around the people waiting in line and, while her friends gaped around the very expensive looking restaurant, demanded to know if the Delmas party's table was ready.<p>

The host, who had been all but stalked by Sissi for the past month as she set up this dinner, was unfazed by her attitude.

"Right this way," he said, motioning for the party of teens to follow him. While the gaggle of adults awaiting tables frowned disapprovingly, the young party was lead through the restaurant.

"Did you get a table in the kitchen?" Theo grumbled, only to be quickly hushed by Sissi.

"And here we are," the host said, gesturing to their table—a rounded both set into a quiet corner in the back of the restaurant.

"Perfect," Sissi said with a clap. William whistled appreciatively.

"You don't make dinner plans lightly, do you Delmas?"

"Does anyone?" Sissi asked. As she spoke, the host bowed to Emily, motioning that she take a seat. Flashing a small smile at her friends, Emily shuffled into one end of the booth.

Is if on cue (or signaled by Sissi's suddenly shoving at them) Timothy and Theo piled into the both from the other side, quickly scooting around to be beside Emily. Rolling his eyes, William followed, Sissi promptly taking the booth's end spot. Suddenly finding himself without a seat, Jeremy was left to take the remaining spot on Emily's other side.

Jeremy fixed William with a suspicious look as he took his seat, but William's response was only a small shrug and innocence. However, as soon as Jeremy looked away, the dark haired boy was scowling at Sissi.

_Obvious much?_ he mouthed. Sissi shrugged.

_Direct, _she mouthed back.

Their silent discussion was cut short by the arrival of their waiter, who successfully distracted the group with the promise of yummy food. In an accident that Sissi looked oddly satisfied with, the waiter arrived short a menu, leaving Jeremy and Emily to share. After ordering, Sissi continually directed the conversations in a very scholarly direction. Then, as soon as Jeremy and Emily were deep into conversation, the rest of the group turned towards their own discussion.

Although it was obvious they were trying to be discrete, Jeremy's friendship with Odd and Ulrich made him well attuned to noticing things like the way Sissi kept continually glancing his way, or how, every time Emily tried to pull one of the boys into the conversation they either stumbled frantically (Theo and Timothy) or artfully directed the topic back to Jeremy (William).

But it seemed that Emily was blissfully unaware of the group's odd behavior so, for her sake alone, Jeremy refrained from pointing it out.

Emily remained innocently unaware of the antics of her table mates for the rest of the night. Jeremy, on the other hand, found it more and more of a struggle to not call them out on it.

What began as covert looks and directed questions began turning into Timothy and Theo inching along their seat, gradually forcing Emily and Jeremy to sit closer and closer to one another. More than once Sissi pushed the idea of the bespectacled pair studying or working on projects together, William's barely concealed eye rolls giving away Sissi's deeper intentions. And the fact that the waiter _just happened_ to arrive at their table short one desert, forcing Emily and Jeremy to share, was in no way lost on the blonde.

But eventually the dinner came to an end, and Jeremy was able to escape the incredible awkwardness of it all as Sissi graciously paid for the entire evening (Jeremy, for his part, was not all that will to contribute anyway, after realizing the kind of matchmaking trap Sissi had tossed him into).

"That was a fun way to spend the evening," Emily said, smiling as she waited beside Jeremy. William, hands stuffed into his pockets, shrugged.

"It was okay," he said. "It felt a little…planned." Jeremy struggled not to laugh, while Sissi pranced outside to join them.

"Are we all ready?" Sissi asked. Her gaze seemed to linger a moment longer than necessary on her target couple, as if gauging the effectiveness of her plan so far. Jeremy frowned at her.

"Yeah, yeah," Theo sighed, Timothy nodding beside him. Sissi only spared them the briefest of looks, and Jeremy was a little worried to notice that, as soon as she looked away, the pair exchanged grins. He had enough time to think that whatever was about to happen wasn't likely part of Sissi's plan before the duo made their move.

Sissi stared at her hand in confusion after Theo darted past, for a moment unsure what the boy had done. It only took her a second to figure it out, however. She turned on the boys with a growl, in time to see Theo duck behind Timothy, waving Sissi's purse in the air. Blinking, Timothy pulled away from Theo, scowling at the boy.

"You give that back right now!" Sissi barked, lunging at Theo. Timothy quickly snatched the purse before Sissi could reach it and then, with a manic laugh, bolted down the sidewalk.

"Can't catch me!" Timothy shouted, waving the purse tauntingly behind him, Theo laughing and running beside him.

"I'm going to wring your stupid little necks!" Sissi bellowed. She paused just long enough to kick off her heels, and then she was after the pair. There was the briefest of moments when the boys hesitated, obviously surprised by Sissi's speed. But it was only brief, and before long all three had vanished down the street.

Watching them go, William sighed.

"I guess I should go after them," he said, sounding as if it were the very last thing he could ever want to do. "They really should have adult supervision and all that."

"Good luck," Jeremy said.

"You're going to need it," Emily agreed.

As William sauntered off after their wayward friends, Emily and Jeremy were left standing alone outside the restaurant. Sighing, Emily looked up at Jeremy, her expression flat.

"Why do we hang out with such weird people?" she asked. Jeremy could only shrug.

"Oh, look!" Emily pointed, smiling brightly as she aimed for the cluster of flowers outside the small florist. Clutching her purse to her chest, Emily's eyes lit with her smile as she leaned over the flowers. "Aren't they so wonderful?" she asked Jeremy as he stood beside her.

"I'm guessing you're a flower person?" Emily nodded, smiling.

"I love them. I hope to study them one day."

"Really?" Jeremy asked. Emily grinned.

"My parents think botanist is kind of a weird career goal, but I can't imagine doing anything else." Her gaze was bright with her enthusiasm as she spoke. "I like nature, and I like science. Why shouldn't I do something that includes both?"

"That's a good attitude," Jeremy said admiringly. Emily grinned.

"I like to think so."

"So," Jeremy said, as after they'd lapsed back into silence. "Do you have a favorite?" Emily nodded, her eyes scouring the flowers before her.

"Carnations are nice," she said, pointing to a bunch of multicolored flowers, "and lilies are fun," she motioned to few large orange blooms. "But I think my favorites are tulips."

"Like this one?" Jeremy asked, pointing uncertainly to a red colored, cup shaped flower. Emily nodded. She then gasped, pointing to a white flower next to it.

"That one's my very favorite," she said, fairly bouncing at the sight of the flower. "They usually bloom in the spring; I'm surprised this shop still has some left."

"I thought you liked tulips," Jeremy said, eyeing the star-shaped flower.

"I do." At Jeremy's confused look, she added, "This _is_ a tulip. It's part of the Lady Tulip species—they're very pretty, and unlike some other tulips, these ones open all the way. As it gets darker they'll close back up. This one specifically is known to be the most beautiful of tulips: it's called the Lady Jane. It's scientific name is really interesting, the second name…uh, yeah," she trailed off, suddenly blushing.

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked, baffled. Emily ducked her head, pulling at a lock of her hair.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I tend to babble about stuff like this. I don't mean to."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Jeremy quickly assured her. He was no stranger to babbling about things that interested him to people who were less so. "If it's something you're interested in, then I don't mind listening."

As soon as the words were out, both teens were ducking their heads and blushing. Scuffing her toe against the ground, Emily angled herself down the sidewalk.

"We should probably get going," she said, her gaze averted.

"Yeah, okay," Jeremy said. Turning, Emily started back towards the school. Jeremy started to follow, and then paused, eyes drawn back to the tulips. Glancing at Emily's retreating back, Jeremy reached for the flowers, grabbing a handful of the Lady Janes, tossing a handful of Euros down before hurrying after Emily. Reaching her side, he hesitated for a moment and then, cheeks bright red and eyes averted, he held out the flowers.

A soft gasp from Emily let him know she'd spotted the flowers.

"Oh, Jeremy," she breathed. "Are…are these for me?" Jeremy nodded stiffly. "Oh wow. I don't know what to say."

"You deserved something to make up for Sissi's idea of a fun night."

"They're so lovely," she said, gently taking the flowers. Pressing her nose to the blossoms, she sighed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jeremy looked up and met Emily's excited gaze. "I'm glad you like them."

"I love them," Emily assured him. She paused, glancing between the flowers and her blushing friend. A smile pulling at her lips, she reached out and took Jeremy's hand in hers. The blonde blinked his surprise, and he looked like he couldn't decide if he should say something or not.

Emily made the choice for him. With a light tug she started back down the sidewalk and Jeremy, after a moment, followed, a smile growing on his own face.

Wow, he thought, matching Emily's pace. Maybe I should let Sissi plan dinner more often.


	9. A New Adventure

**Remeber when I said before June was over? I meant January. Sigh. I fail. BUT I am finally delivering! The final instalment of Sandcastles! The summer finally comes to an end, and it's super cute. Feedback is loved, and to all those who stuck through the story, you're incredible. Thank you for helping me finish another chapter story. Also, go read _Summer of the Traveling Princess_.**

**Dedicated to: RenaYumi for getting me to the end, DayDreamer9 for being there from the beginning, and everyone else for being awesome. Enjoy~**

* * *

><p>Aelita woke with a sound of contentment, shifting comfortably under the warm blankets of her borrowed summer bed. Rolling her head to the side, she smiled as the pink light of sunrise that filtered into her room through the wide picture window. For a while she just lay in bed, watching as the sun slowly rose over the water. As she watched the light playing across the sea, she wondered what fun adventures she and Odd would be able to get into today.<p>

For the last week and a half she and Odd had agreed to leave Yumi and Ulrich alone for a while as they turned their collective adventurous streaks on the island itself. With Odd as her guide, Aelita had explored every inch of the land, the blonde leading her all across the island's beaches and through the caves that littered its shores. Borrowing some of Louise's climbing gear, they'd made it all the way to the top of the cliffs at one end of the island, and then found a few snorkels and looked for fish and coral on the other. They'd even spent a night camping in the island's jungle, telling scary stories and roasting marshmallows around a big flashlight and Odd's portable heater.

But it was just as Aelita was recalling these exciting memories that she remembered something—today was Sunday. Odd likely wouldn't be up before noon on a Sunday, if not later. She frowned. That meant no adventures for them, at least not for a while yet.

Sighing, Aelita's brow furrowed.

What was she supposed to do until then?

Luckily her stomach chose that moment to let her know that before she could go adventuring she needed some fuel. And as her belly rumbled wistfully Aelita's mind churned with ideas for a new adventure.

* * *

><p>Emily sighed, resting her chin in hand. With the eraser end of her pencil she played with the petals of the white, star shaped flowers that filled the vase on her desk. Almost two weeks they'd spent in that vase, yet they looked just as fresh as the day Jeremy had sheepishly handed them to her.<p>

Leaning forward, Emily breathed in the flower's soft, sweet scent and sighed again, letting her head fall into the crook of her elbow.

"Are you going to do that all night?"

"Hmm?" Emily looked up, peering over her textbooks to spot Sissi sprawled across her bed, frowning back at her across an open notebook and half chewed pen. "Do what?"

"You know what," Sissi huffed. "You keep sighing and making faces at those silly flowers of yours."

"They're not silly," Emily said. When Sissi only continued to scowl a small, mischievous smile lit Emily's face. "You know, if I didn't know better, I would think you were jealous."

"What?" Sissi gasped. She blinked at Emily a few times, struggling to come up with an adequate response. "What could I possibly be jealous of?"

"Oh, I don't know," Emily said airily. Grinning, she leaned back, hugging her notebook to her chest as she swiveled her chair to face her still dower roommate. "Maybe my summer romance?"

After sputtering for a few moments Sissi finally settled on an ineloquent "psh" before turning back to her notes. She scowled as she continued to nibble her pen cap, the nit of plastic bobbing in time with her occasional 'hmphs' of dissatisfaction. Still grinning, Emily was just turning back to her own work when Sissi reached the breaking point of her stewing silence.

"I mean, what is there to be jealous of anyway?" she demanded, throwing down her pen. "It's not like I like Jeremy or anything. I'm certainly not jealous of _that _particular aspect of your relationship. Not that there's anything, you know, wrong with Jeremy or anything, he's just not my type. He's just so…"

"Smart?" Emily offered.

"Yes. Wait, no!" Sissi scowled. "I like smart guys too, you know. But Jeremy's just so nerdy and bookish, and that's just not my type at all."

"Ah," Emily breathed. "You mean you just like guys who are smart enough to read."

"Stop that," Sissi whined, while Emily giggled.

"You know, there's still two weeks of summer left," Emily said. "I'm sure you could find yourself a guy to give you flowers before we have to go back to Kadic."

"I'm sure I could to," Sissi agreed. Flipping her notebook shut she shoved her school things aside and, rolling onto her back, continued to watch Emily from upside down. "This is supposed to be a break from school. Why shouldn't be studying for finals."

"How about we take a break," Emily offered, shutting her own book. "And we can study for a different kind of final." As Sissi's raised eyebrow, Emily continued with, "We're going to find you a date!"

"Emily, I don't know if you just haven't noticed, what with how hard you've been studying, but there aren't exactly a lot of guys my type here at summer school."

"This isn't summer school," Emily corrected, "it's a pre-university course. And there are plenty of guys your type here. You like guys who play soccer, do bad in school, and have brown hair, right?" Emily said. Sissi stared her confusion before Emily clarified with, "Ulrich."

"Oh, yes, yes I do," Sissi said, trying to nod while still half hanging off her bed.

"Well, Ulrich's not here, but there are two similar types just down the hall." Sissi started to ask who, when something slammed against their door, followed by two voices, one shouting 'Sorry!' and the other 'Goal!' Sissi's expression darkened.

"Those two dweebs aren't anywhere near the same level as Ulrich, and you know it."

"Just trying to help," Emily said, although her toothy grin said otherwise. "Of course, there are other guys on this trip. What about—hey!" Emily shouted, eyes lighting with an idea. "What about William?"

Sissi simply stared.

"What?" Emily asked, twisting back and forth in her chair. "You two would be perfect together. You're both…well, he's a little smarter than you, but you both like to read! I mean, I know you read magazines and he reads literature, but you could still read together. And you both…you like people who are in relationships!"  
>"That's a terrible reason for me to date someone," Sissi said, frowning.<p>

"I'm grasping at straws here," Emily admitted. "But you have to admit I'm right. If nothing else, you two would look cute together. He's all dark and brooding, it would go great with that dramatic beauty thing you've got going on." Sissi looked about to argue but then paused, looking thoughtful. Emily grinned, knowing she'd found an argument Sissi couldn't ignore. After all, what was a boyfriend good for if not a fashion accessory?

"Okay, I'll think about it," Sissi said.

"Nu-uh." Emily shook her head. "You have to actually go on a date with him. This is supposed to be an exam, remember."

"Okay then," Sissi said, rolling onto her stomach. "If my exam is to take William on a date, then what's yours?"

"I'll take Jeremy on a date."

"Emily," Sissi sighed, "You and Jeremy are already dating. You've been on a date almost every night for the past two weeks. If I have to hear about one more place that he took you in Paris, I'm going to start pulling my hair—well, someone's hair out. Your test has to be harder than something you've been doing anyway."

"Okay then," Emily said, rolling her eyes. "Then what do you suggest?" Sissi hemmed and hawed thoughtfully, tapping her chin as she thought.

"Oh! I know," she gasped, eyes lighting up. "For your exam, you have to kiss Jeremy! And don't try and tell me you already have," Sissi quickly added, before Emily could do just that. "I know for a fact that if _that_ had happened I would already know about it."

"Oh yeah?" Emily asked. Sissi nodded.

"If you didn't tell me, then Jeremy would have told William and you know if Jeremy told William then Theo and Timothy would have overheard, and then _everyone _would know, including me. And since I don't know about it, it didn't happen."

Despite wanting to get out of Sissi's ridiculous test, Emily knew that the girl had a very valid point. Realizing she wasn't going to be able to get out of Sissi's demands without also having to relinquish a Sissi and William date, Emily agreed, but with one final demand.

"Fine, I'll kiss Jeremy. But if I do that then you and William _have_ to go on a date. And—" she added quickly. "—the rest of us get to come and watch."

* * *

><p>Rolling onto his back, Odd yawned loud and wide, smacking his lips as he plodded his way into consciousness. For a long moment he lay in bed, blankets tangled around one leg and pillow nowhere to be found, and wondered what it was that could possibly have woken him at—he glanced at the clock and flashed it a horrified look—much too early in the morning.<p>

And then he heard the sound again—a faint whirring, coming from downstairs. His first thought was the blender, but who would be using the blender this early in the morning?

When the realization dawned on his Odd grinned. Grabbing up a t-shirt from his floor, Odd pulled it over his head as he made his way out of his room, quickly crossing the hall to stick his head into what was usually his sister's room. Adele's bed was rumpled with the signs of a recent sleeper, but otherwise unoccupied.

His suspicions confirmed, Odd made his way down the stairs via a slide down the railing. As he reached the bottom the sounds of someone shuffling about in the kitchen caught his ear. A familiar 'oh!' sounded, followed by what sounded like a bowl clattering onto the counter. Grinning at the thoughtful 'hmm' that followed, Odd circled around to the kitchen. His grin widened at the site that met him.

Across the kitchen counter measuring cups of all sizes peeked out from under bowls filled with eggs and water, while a gallon of milk stood sentry beside a tower of Odd's mother's cookbooks. A bag of flour lay on its side, its contents trickling into a mug, while an open jar of sugar kept the baking pans littering the stovetop company. What looked like every bottle of cooking oil in the kitchen had made it out of the cupboards and, to Odd's confusion, the blender had been rummaged out and now stood half filled with what looked like baking mix and butter.

And in the middle of it all stood Aelita, an egg in one hand and an aged index card in the other, confusion shining bright on her flour smudged face.

"Morning Princess," Odd said, plopping onto one of the bar stools lining the kitchen counter. "What's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes," Aelita responded matter-of-factly, not even looking up from the card on which Odd's mother kept the family recipe. Pointing to the blender, Odd asked,

"What's that for?"

"The instructions said to blend the pancake mix with the butter," Aelita said. Judging by the ratio in the blender, Odd could only assume Aelita had found one package of his mother's premade mix and an entire tub of butter and simply added them together. Struggling not to grin, he pointed to the bowls of eggs and water.

"And those?" he asked. Aelita smiled as she said,

"I'm mixing the eggs and the water in a bowl." As she spoke she motioned to the spoon handles sticking out of each bowl. Biting his lip, Odd pointed to the mug of white powder.

"And that?"

"One cup of flour," Aelita said with a grin. She then frowned, glancing at the card and then her haphazard ingredients. "I've been sifting the sugar for a little while now, but it doesn't seem to be making anything 'thicken'." Seeing Aelita's innocent confusion, Odd asked her to show him just how she'd been sifting the sugar. Smiling, she picked up the jar of sugar and shook it lightly back and forth.

"Okay Princess," Odd said, jumping up and joining the pink haired girl in the kitchen. He paused at the fridge to grab out two cartons of eggs, which he handed to Aelita. "How about this—I'll make the pancakes, and you can make up some omelets."

Shoving the card into Odd's hands, Aelita retrieved the eggs and scurried off to the stove, leaving a grinning blonde and a cloud of flour in her wake.

* * *

><p>"So, you know what you're supposed to do, right?" Sissi asked. Emily, for what felt like the hundredth time, nodded.<p>

"Yes, yes, yes," she sighed, frowning at Sissi, who had spent the better half of the afternoon coaching her roommate through all the ways she could turn her study date with Jeremy into a romantic evening for two. "You know, he's going to get suspicious if he gets here and you're still here as well. I told him you were going to be out for the night."

"I know, I know," Sissi waved her off. "I'll be gone, don't worry. But you're sure you're ready?" she asked. Emily rolled her eyes, sighing dramatically. "Okay, I'm going," Sissi said, grabbing up her school things. "I'll have my phone on if you need me."

"Not in the library you won't," Emily chided. Sissi scoffed.

"I think in this situation, I can count it as an emergency call." Emily shook her head at her friend, although she was smiling her thanks as, with a final reminder to 'laugh even when he's not funny!' Sissi finished grabbing up her things and vanished through the door.

And just in time, too. Emily had only to wait just about the amount of time it would have taken Sissi to get to the end of the hall before she heard the door to Jeremy's dorm open and close and, a moment later, a familiar tentative knocking at the door.

"Come on in!" Emily called, immediately smoothing her skirt, once again a fashion decision made by Sissi. In an attempt to hide the fact that she was very much dressed up for what should have been a simple study date, Emily quickly pulled on a hooded sweatshirt over the top Sissi had also picked. She was standing in the middle of the room, still adjusting the sweater, when Jeremy entered.

"Oh, umm, hey," she said, trying and failing to not blush. "You're early."

"You did say you wanted to study at six, right?" Jeremy asked, glancing uncertainly towards the girls' shared alarm clock. Emily was in the middle of nodding her agreement when she caught sight of the bright red numbers—6:05.

"Oh, haha, silly me," she said, waving a hand airily. "I must have lost track of the time." Still giggling uncertainly, she let her hands drop. Jeremy, textbooks in hand, continued to stand by the door, looking uncertain of what to do next. "Oh gosh, umm, please, feel free to sit anywhere," Emily said, realizing her lapse of manners. Casting about, she started to clear away some of the things piled on her bed, only to spot Jeremy half lowered into Sissi's abandoned desk chair.

"Uh, is it okay if I sit here?" Jeremy asked slowly, visibly confused by Emily's actions. Feeling her cheeks heat with a blush, Emily nodded, putting her armful of blankets and random clothes back where they'd been sitting.

"Yeah, sorry, that's fine," she said, as she sheepishly retook her own seat. Smiling her way, Jeremy set down his books before picking the one from the top and opening it.

"How do you feel about starting with chemistry?" Jeremy asked. Emily's response was a slightly awkward laugh. Her laugh quickly faded into an uncomfortable throat clearing when she realized that Jeremy's question hadn't been one of those not-funny-jokes Sissi told her she should laugh at anyway.

"Sorry," she mumbled, ducking her head. She was picking awkwardly at her skirt when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she met Jeremy's gaze, blue eyes watching her with curiosity from behind his glasses.

"Is everything okay?" he asked. "You seem anxious about something."

"Oh, you know, exam jitters," Emily said. Jeremy gave her a flat look, which said clearly he wasn't buying it in the least. For a few seconds Emily tried to think of another excuse, but realized that the likelihood of Jeremy actually buying it was nonexistent. Leaning back into her chair, she sighed.

"You're right, it's not just exams. Sissi and I kind of have a…a bet going."

"Oh?" Jeremy's eyebrows raised as he closed the textbook. "Sounds interesting."

"You could say that," Emily agreed. "You see, she has to go out on a date with William, but for her to do that, I, uh…"

"Yes?"

"I have to kiss you," Emily mumbled quickly before ducking her head, her cheeks burning. Staring hard at her lap, Emily wasn't sure what to expect, although a lot of her was fairly convinced that Jeremy would take that as his cue to get up and leave. When she heard his chair shifting she assumed he was doing just that and, not wanting to lose her boyfriend after only just gaining him, she looked up—

To find Jeremy sitting only inches away, his face as red as hers felt but his gaze determined. Leaning forward his lips found hers in a quick, gentle peck before he looked down sheepishly. Emily blinked, fingers coming to her lips as they continued to tingle with the feel of Jeremy's kiss. Slowly a smile spread across her face and, picking up Jeremy's forgotten text book, she scooted up beside him.

"So," she said, catching Jeremy's gaze and smiling. Slowly he smiled back.

"So," he agreed.

"You wanted to start with chemistry?"

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you actually did it!"<p>

Sissi was barely through the doorway before one look at Emily's face told her exactly how her roommate's sudo-exam had gone.

"Shhh," Emily hissed, tugging the other girl the rest of the way into the room and shutting the door. "Someone could here you!"

"Someone who, Jeremy?" Sissi asked, dropping her things without thought for tidiness. "Emily, I think he already knows."

"Not Jeremy," Emily deadpanned. "You know exactly what someone I mean."

"I know, I know," Sissi said, looking like her expression couldn't settle between pleased and annoyed.

"How did you know, anyway?" Emily asked, flopping back onto her bed.

"Are you kidding?" Sissi paused in removing her coat to simply stare at her roommate. "I could hear your happy humming from down the hall. And your ridiculously goofy expression doesn't exactly hide much."

"Very funny," Emily said, even as she blushed and grinned, flashing Sissi the exact 'goofy expression' she was talking about. Sighing, Sissi dropped into her own bed.

"Well, congrats," she said. "Honestly I didn't think you two would be able to pull it off. So," she added, grabbing a pillow and rolling on top of it, "how did you do it? I bet it was the knee-touch, right? That one's always worked for me. Or did you giggle and flip your hair—" Sissi flipped her hair in example, "—and then tap him on the shoulder?"

"Umm, neither," Emily said. "Actually, I just ended up telling him about the bet, and then he kissed me."

Sissi stared.

"What?"

"You know I didn't like any of those things you showed me," Emily sighed. Sissi quickly waved her off.

"But you can't just tell him about the bet to get him to kiss you! That's…that's cheating!"

"We never agreed that we couldn't tell," Emily said. "And it's not like I told him to make him kiss me. He could tell I was acting all weird and was asking about it. I _had_ to tell him. But it doesn't matter how I did it—the fact of the matter is, I did. And now _you _get to go on a date!"

Groaning, Sissi let her face drop into her pillow.

"Yay," she grumbled. "Lucky me."

* * *

><p>Ulrich sighed, sinking into his chair and patting his stomach contently. Around the dining table his friend all did the same as looked over the remains of three massive stacks of pancakes and what had to be a dozen omelets.<p>

"You two make a good breakfast team," Yumi said, smiling as she finished her last bite of eggs.

"Thanks!" Aelita chirped over her misshapen pancake (Odd had allowed her to pour most of them).

"Agreed," Ulrich said, lifting his orange juice glass in what looked like some kind of toast, although when he lifted the juice to his lips to drink he simply burped once, frowned at the juice, and then set it back down.

"We do make a good team, don't we?" Odd said, looping an arm around Aelita's shoulders. She giggled, leaning into the hug. "So teammate, what should we do now? An after breakfast swim?"

"We'd sink like rocks," Yumi informed him. "How about something a little less athletic. Like tanning."

"Or sleeping," Ulrich offered. Yumi rolled her eyes, swiping half-heartedly at the brunet. Ulrich flailed dramatically and rolled out of his chair. Aelita giggled at their antics and then suddenly jumped up and dashed from the room. Three pairs of eyes, one peering over the table edge, exchanged looks, before Aelita reappeared, pink laptop in her hands.

"We need to call Jeremy!"

"Oh yeah, good thinking Aelita," Ulrich said as he climbed back into his chair. As Aelita set up her laptop the others scooted in close so that they could all be seen they their friend. However their close proximity started Odd and Ulrich going in some kind of flail war, and by the time Aelita was able to get Jeremy's webcam pulled up it was for the blonde to see the two boys tumble out of sight.

"So, business as usual I see," he said.

"Good morning," Aelita chirped, holding up her plate of breakfast. "Look what I helped Odd cook!"

"Very nice," Jeremy said, laughing at his friend's enthusiasm. Grinning, Aelita lowered her plate. "I assume you're all having a good morning?"

"Yep," Ulrich said, popping up beside Yumi.

"Wonderful," Odd agreed as he emerged at Aelita's side. "How about you Jer, how was _your _night?"

"It went well," Jeremy said, only to have four faces frown at him.

"You know what he means," Yumi said, grinning. Ulrich responded to the boy's frown with,

"You had a study date with Emily last night, right?"

Jeremy stared. He started to ask a question and then paused, turning to look over his shoulder. It was then that the group noticed William's absence, and the sound of running water in the background.

"I told him not to use my webcam without asking first."

"You're not even mad and you know it," Ulrich said. "So spill, how'd the date go?"

"How do you think it went?" Jeremy asked. "It was a study date. We studied."

"Uh-huh, sure you did," Odd said, while the girls grinned.

"A study date is still a date, Jer," Yumi said. "So…?"

"Nothing happened," Jeremy said, although even overt he grainy webcam image all four friends could see his bright blush.

"Come on Jeremy," Aelita said, leaning forward and resting her chin in her hands. "Tells us!" Jeremy paused, staring at his friends. Then, chewing his lips, he glanced over his shoulder at the bathroom. Seeming content at the sound of still running water, he nodded once. Leaning in close to the computer he whispered,

"My and Emily might have kissed."

Jeremy was then shushing his friends, scrambling to turn down his speakers.

"Ooooh," Odd said, grinning, "Someone's keeping secrets."

"What do you mean?"

"He means why haven't you told William yet," Ulrich said.

"About kissing Emily?" Jeremy clarified. "Oh, I have. That's not why I'm being quiet."

It wasn't often that their bookish friend kept secrets and, excited by the prospect of one, they scooted in close. They could tell Jeremy was trying to hide a grin as he glanced back at the shower. Turning back, he leaned in close again and whispered,

"So, apparently Sissi and Emily have this little bet going, where if one of them does something the other one has to do something in return. Emily's thing was to kiss me."

"And Sissi's?" Yumi asked, whispering as well.

"She has to go on a date with William, while the rest of us get to watch."

Once again Jeremy was forced to mute his friends, but this time to hide their laughter. As they got themselves back under control he turned his sound back on.

"Yeah, their date's tonight. William didn't want to go, he even suspected something was up when Sissi asked him, but I convinced him it was Emily's idea because she thought Sissi was getting lonely without a guy of her own."

"Wow Jer," Ulrich said, while Odd gave an appreciative whistle. "I never would have thought you had it in you."

"You'd be surprised," Jeremy said. Just as he finished the bathroom door opened, a toweled and tousled William waving over Jeremy's shoulder. "And that's my cue," Jeremy said. "I'll talk to you guys tomorrow."

"You'd better," Odd said. Grinning, Jeremy waved and logged off.

"Wow," Ulrich said again as Aelita set aside her computer. "Look at Jer being all sneaky."

"He learned from the best," Odd assured him. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Or the worst." Aelita giggled while Odd pouted. Ulrich, still rubbing at his full stomach watched the duo's antics for a few moments before, in a moment of silence, asking,

"So, how about that nap?"

* * *

><p>Sissi picked at the tablecloth, hand in her chin as she tried to come up with something to say.<p>

"So, finals," she mumbled, glancing up.

"Yeah," William agreed. He was poking halfheartedly at his meal, well aware of just how awkward his date was currently feeling.

"Have you studied?" Sissi asked.

"We all study as a group," William said. "You know I have."

"Oh, right," Sissi said. "Or course." She sighed, trying to think of something else to say. This time William saved her the trouble.

"Okay, enough with the act," he said. "I know that you don't want to actually be here on a date with me, and you know it to. So why don't you tell me what's really going on here."

"What do you mean?" Sissi said, barely trying to sound honest. William gave her a flat look. Sighing, Sissi let her hand drop to the table. "Okay," she whispered, leaning in close. "Without being blaringly obvious, look over your right shoulder at the booth three rows down." Blinking, William started to turn, but Sissi grabbed his hand.

"What're you—?"

"I said don't be obvious," she hissed. Sighing, William carefully extracted his hand from Sissi's. Then, as he went to continue eating his food, he used his elbow to knock his spoon to the ground.

"Oops," he deadpanned, before getting up to retrieve it. As he rose and turned he aimed his gaze in the direction Sissi had specified, just in time to see four familiar heads vanish from sight.

"See what I mean?" Sissi groaned as William retook his seat.

"Why are they watching us from across the restaurant?"

"Emily and I might have had a bet going," Sissi said, swirling her knife across the table.

"…Does this have something to do with Emily and Jeremy kissing?"

"It might," Sissi said, scowling darkly. William returned the look in kind, and she sighed. "Okay, fine. I might have said I would go on a date with you if Emily would kiss Jeremy. I didn't think they'd actually do it!" William raised a thoughtful eyebrow.

"Oh. So, does that mean you didn't want to go on a date with me either?"

"I—what? No, it just….ugh," Sissi said, throwing her hands up. "Honestly, I was just trying to get Jeremy and Emily to kiss. They needed to get around to it eventually."

To Sissi's surprise, William's response to her outburst was not the annoyance or anger she was expecting, but rather a grin.

"What?" she snapped.

"I couldn't agree more," he said. While Sissi stared in shock William looked around and, spotting their waiter, waved him over. While Sissi watched, William motioned for the waiter to lean in close.

"Sir, have you seen that both behind me, about three rows down?" he asked. The waiter nodded. "Well, those are some of our school friends. The one with the glasses, his name is Jeremy, and it's his birthday today. They keep looking over here because they think we forgot. Would you mind getting together as many people as you could to sing happy birthday to him? And while they do that, if they could block us so we could sneak up and surprise them, that would be great."

Grinning, the waiter nodded.

"Consider it done."

"Thanks." William smiled politely as the waiter left and then, as soon as the man was gone, dumped a fistful of money onto the table.

"Get ready to run," he told Sissi. "As soon as they start singing, we're gone."

"You sir, are a genius." William grinned, turning to look just as a group of over a dozen waiters and waitresses descended on the table-turned-observation deck.

It was more than either teen could have hoped for.

It wasn't just the wait staff that burst into song—within seconds the entire restaurant was serenading Jeremy with their robust, joyful take on the Happy Birthday song.

"Come on," William hissed, grabbing Sissi's hand and tugging her towards the door. Together they run, crouched low and ducking from table to table, skipping past a baffled hostess and to the freedom awaiting them through the restaurant's wide double doors. But right before they left they paused, and together they glanced back to see their friend's reactions.

Sharing twin grins, they slipped outside and out of sight.

"Freedom," Sissi gasped, swirling in the fresh air. She then laughed, turning to William. "Did you see their faces? They were so confused!"

"I'm sure your bet didn't say anything about surprise birthdays," William said with a wink. Smiling, Sissi nodded.

"So, what should we do now?" she asked. Sucking down a thoughtful breath, William 'hmm'd.

"Well, we did have to skip out before desert. How about cake and coffee?" He offered an arm to Sissi. Grinning, she looped hers in his.

"Lead the way."

* * *

><p>A week later and with summer finals behind him, Jeremy found himself once again loading onto a bus with his fellow students, although this time to return to Kadic. Leaving his luggage for Jim to load, Jeremy climbed onto the bus and quickly found his seat. He grinned when, a moment later, Emily dropped don beside him.<p>

"Ready to go back?" she asked, settling her things beneath the seat.

"You know, I'm not sure," Jeremy said. Emily grinned.

"I know what you mean," she said. "It's been a surprisingly fun summer, even if some of our company was rather—" Emily was cut off by a soccer ball flying overhead, followed by a "sorry!", "Goal!", and "Put that ball away now!"

"Rather annoying?" Sissi asked, frowning at the soccer players as she took the seat next to William. Sighing at Theo when he pulled a face at her, Sissi sniffed, shook her head once, and then buried herself in a fashion magazine. William glanced up from his novel to flash Jeremy a smile before to pair fell into reading quietly. Emily caught Jeremy's eye, struggling to hide a laugh.

"Maybe we should all try and do something again next summer," she suggested. "What do you think?" Jeremy paused, looking mock thoughtful.

"I think yes," Timothy said, appearing over the back of the seat in front of them.

"Seconded," Theo agreed, his hand waving into view.

"I'm in," William added, Sissi shrugging beside him.

"Sure, why not."

"So, what do you think?" Emily asked. "Next summer?" Glancing around at his friends, Jeremy could only nod.

"Sure, next summer," he said. "It's a date."

* * *

><p>The night stars were brilliantly white against the night sky, and vastly more innumerable than Aelita had ever seen them in France. Standing with her toes in the surf she stared up at them, afraid that if she looked away they might all just vanish forever.<p>

"Come on Aelita," Yumi called, laughter in her voice. "You're missing out on all the fun!"

"Coming!" Aelita called. With one last, lingering look, she turned away, grinning as she spun to face her friends.

Yumi was sitting on one of Odd's beach chairs, a thin sweater pulled over her bathing suit as she munched on a hotdog. She offered one to Aelita as she approached, handing it over with a grinning, "this one's not too burnt." Aelita giggled as she bit into the treat, ketchup dripping onto her chin. This close to the fire, Aelita could feet it's warmth, the heat wafting towards her on the sea breeze. The scent of the salt and the smoke mingled and was like nothing she'd smelt before.

It was wonderful.

Plopping down on the sand, Aelita and Yumi watched the boys as they stood around the fire, using cooking skewers they'd devised themselves to cook hotdogs and marshmallows. Ulrich's was supposed to allow "optimal cooking for each individual marshmallow." It looked to Aelita a lot like a dozen wire hangers all strung together. In contrast Odd's was simply a very long stick, covered in hotdogs that he dipped right into the flames.

As the girls watched, one of the hotdogs caught fire, turning quickly black before falling into the embers.

"Odd, at this rate the fire's going to get more food than we are," Ulrich teased, at the same time waving his own contraption about as a handful of the marshmallows burst into flames. One of the gooey treats slipped free, flying over the girls like a tiny, mushy comet before landing with a sizzle in among the waves.

"Oh, sorry," Ulrich said sheepishly, while Yumi rolled her eyes. Picking off the most blackened treats, Ulrich motioned to a plate of crackers and chocolate with his foot, offering an apologetic, "S'mores, anyone?"

"What are s'mores?" Aelita asked, eyes alight with her curiosity. Climbing lithely to her feet, Yumi waved for her to follow.

"They're delicious. Come on 'lita, I'll show you how to make one."

As the group settled down around the fire, s'mores and hotdogs in hand, Aelita looked around at her friends. Glancing down at her half eaten S'more, she sighed.

"What's up Princess?" Ulrich asked, glancing over Yumi's head as she leaned against him. Odd scooted closer, tilting his head to one side.

"Sand in your s'more?" he asked. Aelita shook her head.

"No, I just," she paused, frowning. "This summer has been really fun. More fun than I ever imagined it could be." Poking at the sand, she finished softly, "I don't want it to end."

"Oh Aelita," Yumi said, smiling, "we'll still be able to have fun like this at Kadic."

"I know," Aelita said quickly. "But this has just been…it's a different kind of fun. I'll miss it." Everyone fell quiet at Aelita's words. She wasn't going to be the only one that would miss this—miss having time to spend together uninterrupted by anything at all.

"I have an idea," Odd said, lighting up. "How about we just agree to do this again next year?"

"Really?" Aelita asked, sitting straighter. Odd nodded.

"I'm sure my parents would agree. And we could make Jer and Emily come too." Grinning, Aelita turned to Yumi and Ulrich.

"And you would both come too?" she asked.

"Of course we would," Yumi assured her. Ulrich nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it for anything."

Fairly vibrating with her excitement, Aelita smiled at each of her closest friends.

"It's a promise then," she said. "Next summer we'll all come back here and do it all over again."

Three grins matched hers.

"Promise," Yumi agreed, Ulrich nodding along.

"Better start making plans, Princess," Odd said. "Looks like we've got another whole summer a head of us."


End file.
